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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 













THE 

MODEL CHURCH 


BY 

G. C. BREWER 

N 




Nashville, Tenn. 
McQUIDDY PRINTING COMPANY 
1919 





Copyright, 1919, 

By 

McQUIDDY PRINTING COMPANY, 
Nashville, Tenn. 



SfcP 13 1919 


©CU530765 


-'•M) I 


INTRODUCTION. 


T HE following pages are intended as a prac¬ 
tical application of the fundamental prin¬ 
ciples underlying the work and worship of 
the church revealed in the New Testament—an 
effort to set forth the characteristic features of 
an efficient church, such as the model given in the 
New Testament requires. That greater efficiency 
is needed among the churches of Christ in order 
to more successfully prosecute the work com¬ 
mitted to them by the Master will not be called in 
question by any thoughtful person. The elder¬ 
ship, deaconship, and general management of the 
Lord's business in many congregations is very 
much below par; and the author of this book has 
endeavored to point out the trouble, while at the 
same time suggesting the scriptural remedy. He 
does not claim for his work the merit of “perfec¬ 
tion," as the title would seem to indicate, but 
merely suggestive and helpful thoughts upon the 
subjects treated, knowing full well that all hu¬ 
man works are subject to criticism and improve¬ 
ment. The author's, position on the “manner” 
in which elders should be set apart is the same as 
held by many able brethren, and at the same time 
rejected by others equally as able. To my mind, 
it is one of those questions about which a man 
should hesitate to be dogmatic; and if I under¬ 
stand the author, he has endeavored to occupy a 



4 


Introduction. 


conservative ground on the subject. Some may- 
think he assigns too much authority to the elder¬ 
ship; but a careful reading of his book will, I 
think, dispel that impression. 

The book contains so much that is good, sug¬ 
gestive, and helpful in a large degree that I 
could wish for it a wide circulation among the 
churches. The author has given much study to 
the topics discussed, and he deals with them in a 
straightforward and forceful way, never leaving 
you to guess at what he means. May the book be 
productive of much good, is my sincere and ear¬ 
nest desire. F. W. Smith. 


AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 


T HIS series of lessons has been prepared as 
an aid to those who wish to see the con¬ 
gregations of Christians everywhere de¬ 
veloped according to the New Testament order. 
Many church members are in no sense “disci¬ 
ples”—learners—in the school of Christ, and 
often those who go off after the ways of the world 
do so because they have never been instructed in 
the way of the Lord. The people sometimes re¬ 
gard the preachers and elders as “cranks,” and 
what they insist upon as simply their own bigoted 
notions; and if such people remain loyal, they do 
so as a matter of convenience, and not from con¬ 
viction. It is no unusual thing to hear some 
members in the best congregations prate against 
the “cranky,” “fogy,” “ignorant,” “backwoods” 
way of their leaders. Many who do this would 
not do it if they realized that these leaders are 
trying conscientiously to please the Lord and 
striving jealously to maintain his order. 

There was once a day when the disciples knew 
the Bible, and any member of the church would 
detect the slightest digression from the Scriptures 
in doctrine or methods; but that day has passed, 
and we need now to teach again the “first princi¬ 
ples of the oracles of God.” 

Any one who has observed the management of 
the affairs of a congregation will readily appre- 


6 


Author's Preface. 


date the need of such lessons as are here given. 
Those who read the query department of the reli¬ 
gious papers know how frequently these ques¬ 
tions come up among the churches. These les¬ 
sons have been prepared for use by those who see 
the situation as it is, who feel the distress of it, 
and who are seeking a remedy for it. 

These lessons are put in a form for use as a 
textbook for classes, and it is hoped that whole 
churches will study them together. All the mem¬ 
bers must be trained along these lines if any 
church would become a “model church." This 
work will supply a ten-weeks' course of study. 
Competent teachers or leaders should have charge 
of the classes, and the work should be under¬ 
taken in all earnestness. Drills, reviews, and ex¬ 
aminations should be held, and no class should 
suspend work till these lessons are thoroughly 
learned. All Scripture references should be read, 
and the more important ones should be committed 
to memory. 

The author acknowledges his indebtedness to 
many men and many books. He claims nothing 
new for this work except the arrangement. May 
it be used of the Lord to the glory of his name 
and to the joy of his people everywhere. 

G. C. Brewer. 


CONTENTS. 

Introduction _ 3 

Author’s Preface _ 5 

Chapter I. 

What Constitutes a Congregation_ 9 

Chapter II. 

The Qualifications of an Elder_ 22 

Chapter III. 

The Duties of the Elders_ 35 

Chapter IV. 

The Relation of the Overseen to the Overseer_ 49 

Chapter V. 

How Elders Are Made_ 62 

Chapter VI. 

How Elders Are Unmade_ 82 

Chapter VII. 

The Diaconate_ 95 

Chapter VIII. 

Dealing with the Disorderly-- 107 













8 


Contents 


Chapter IX. 

Figuring on the Finances_ 123 

Chapter X. 

Church Music _138 

Chapter XI. 

A Model Church_ 153 

Chapter XII. 

Prayer-Meeting Topics_162 






CHAPTER I. 


What Constitutes a Congregation. 


The Church The church of Christ, in its uni- 

General. versal sense, includes all Chris¬ 
tians. It is the family of God; 
and, of course, it contains all of God’s children 
There is no such thing known to the Bible as first 
becoming a Christian and afterwards joining the 
church. Some men of the present time may teach 
that sort of doctrine, but it has come as a result 
of the many religious parties and denominations 
which now exist, but which are all also unknown 
to the Bible. Certainly one may become a Chris¬ 
tian before one joins any particular religious 
party, and one may live a Christian and never 
join any religious party or denomination; but 
when one becomes a Christian, one then and 
thereby becomes a child of God, a member of the 
family of God, which is the same as the church of 
God. 

Religious people of to-day frequently have union 
meetings, in which they convert people, make 
Christians of them (they claim), and then urge 
them to “join some church”—to “join the church 
of your [their] choice.” But we never read of 
anything like that in the Bible. In the days of 
the apostles people obeyed the gospel, and that 




10 


The Model Church. 


added them to the church. It is said that the 
Lord added them to the church, because that is 
the Lord's way of making church members. 
(Acts 2: 37-47.) They did not join some denom¬ 
ination or have some preacher add them to his 
communion according to his rules of receiving 
members—the rules of his creed. It would be 
interesting to hear some denominational preacher 
tell what church the Ethiopian officer became a 
member of when he obeyed the gospel under the 
preaching of Philip. (Acts 8.) In the same chap¬ 
ter we read that Philip went down to Samaria 
and preached the gospel, and verse 12 says: “But 
when they believed Philip preaching good tidings 
concerning the kingdom of God and the name of 
Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and 
women." There is nothing said about these peo¬ 
ple joining the church; that expression is never 
found in the Bible; but are we to suppose that 
they were not members of the church? 

Paul went to Corinth to preach the gospel, and 
we read that “many of the Corinthians hearing 
believed, and were baptized." (Acts 18: 8.) 
Did that constitute them members of the church? 
If so, what church? If that made them members 
of the church of God, then, without doubt, we 
have learned how we may become members of 
God's church to-day. That they did become mem¬ 
bers of the church of God is clearly proved by 
the fact that Paul wrote them a letter and ad¬ 
dressed it to “the church of God which is at Cor¬ 
inth." Those who at Corinth heard, believed, 


The Model Church. 


11 


and were baptized constituted the church of God 
at Corinth. If people will now hear the gospel, 
believe the gospel, repent of their sins, and be 
baptized into the name of the Father and of the 
Son and of the Holy Spirit, they will then be 
children of God, Christians, members of the 
church of God; and there is no need for them to 
join any human organization, with a human head 
and a human creed, in order to live the Christian 
life. They can and they should do all the Lord 
commands them to do in the name of the Lord, 
and not in the name of some human society; as 
Christians, and not as Campbellites, as Meth¬ 
odists, as Baptists, or as Presbyterians. 

0 

But some one may say that there must be some 
system, some organization, or some understand¬ 
ing before the Lord's work can be done. That is 
exactly true, and it is the purpose of the follow¬ 
ing chapters to point out the system that God 
has ordained. Because the church of the New 
Testament is not a great ecclesiasticism, with a 
human head and man-made methods, no one 
should suppose that there is not, therefore, any 
organization or any system about the Lord s 
work. The Lord's plans are perfect; and if his 
pattern is followed, the Lord's children will live 
in harmony and their work will be done regu¬ 
larly, systematically, and enthusiastically. You 
are invited, therefore, to a careful study of the 
Lord's plans. 


12 


The Model Church. 


Those who have obeyed the gos- 
The Church pel as described above consti- 

Local. tute the church of God in any 

locality. But the Lord has or¬ 
dained that they should unite their efforts or 
band themselves together in order to carry out 
his appointments and to be mutually helpful one 
to another; and thus they become an organiza¬ 
tion, which we usually designate as a congrega¬ 
tion. The word “congregation” has about the 
same meaning as the word “church,” but we more 
often use the latter word in its universal sense— 
the “church,” including all Christians; hence, all 
congregations or local churches. The Greek word 
for “church” is ecclesia and means “assembly.” 
The word “congregation” is from the two Latin 
words con and grex. Con means “together” and 
grex means “a flock.” Hence, a congregation 
means a flock together or a flock assembled. To 
take the word literally, therefore, Christians 
compose a congregation only when they are con¬ 
gregated or assembled. But we use the word to 
mean those in a town or community who meet 
together for worship at a stated place and at ap¬ 
pointed times. But the place of worship must be 
prepared and maintained and the time must be 
agreed on. This, if there were nothing else, 
would necessitate some sort of organization; but 
there are many other and far more important 
things to be done, and the Lord has ordained that 
every congregation shall be an organization with 
divinely appointed officers. There is no organiza- 


The Model Church. 


13 


tion in the church of God larger than the local 
church, and every church is independent of every 
other church and has its own bishops and dea¬ 
cons. No church is, therefore, a model church, 
does not fill the divine measure, till it has ap¬ 
pointed men, who are scripturally qualified, as 
bishops or elders or overseers or pastors. (All 
these terms designate the same office.) There 
may be—yes, there are—many congregations that 
do not have men who meet the requirements of 
an elder, and in a case of that kind it is better to 
remain scripturally unorganized (because not full 
grown) than to become unscripturally organized. 
In a band of conscientious and zealous Christians 
men should soon grow to the divine pattern laid 
for an elder. The duty of "developing elders will 
be considered in another chapter. 

But some one may protest that it is not neces¬ 
sary to have bishops in every congregation. In 
reply it would only be necessary to say that if 
every congregation is not to have bishops there 
should be no bishops at all, for it is certain that 
the bishops of one congregation have no author¬ 
ity to oversee the affairs of another congregation. 
They have authority in only the one congrega¬ 
tion. All the ecclesiasticisms and hierarchies of 
the present day have come as a direct result of a 
failure to observe that principle—the principle of 
congregational independence. If there are to be 
no elders or bishops at all, what would constitute 
a congregation, and in what sense would it be an 


14 


The Model Church. 


organization? How could order be maintained 
or discipline be enforced? 

Nothing is more plainly taught than that the 
New Testament churches all had elders over them. 
The mother church at Jerusalem had in it the 
twelve apostles, but it also had elders—not the 
apostles as elders, but we read of the apostles and 
elders. '‘The apostles and the elders were gath¬ 
ered together.” (Acts 15: 6.) “Then it seemed 
good to the apostles and the elders, with the 
whole church.” (Acts 15: 22.) The letter to the 
Gentiles began: “The apostles and the elders, 
brethren,” to those in Antioch, etc. (Acts 15: 
23.) Paul, who had great anxiety for all the 
churches and who returned to them again and 
again to see how they fared, “appointed for them 
elders in every church.” (Acts 14: 23.) The 
Holy Spirit, probably through Paul, had made 
certain men elders in the church at Ephesus. 
(Acts 20: 28.) It is evident, too, that the church 
at Thessalonica had elders, for Paul exhorts that 
church to esteem highly its elders—those who 
“are over you in the Lord.” (1 Thess. 5: 12.) 
The church at Philippi is often called “a model 
church,” and it is certain that it had both bishops 
and deacons, for Paul addresses them as follows: 
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to 
all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, 
with the bishops and deacons.” (Phil. 1: 1.) 
If there is any further need of proof, it is sup¬ 
plied by Paul's charge to Titus. To him he said: 
“For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou 


The Model Church. 


15 


shouldest set in order the things that were want¬ 
ing, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave 
thee charge.” (Tit. 1: 5.) Paul also gave Tim¬ 
othy full instructions as to what sort of men to 
appoint as elders, which shows clearly that to set 
things in order—to perfect each organization— 
and to appoint elders in each congregation was 
also a part of Timothy’s charge. 

From the instructions given to the churches of 
Galatia and Corinth we learn that each church 
had a common fund or treasury into which they 
put their contributions each Lord’s day—contrib¬ 
uting as the Lord had prospered them; and this 
shows the necessity of having some one to have 
charge of the funds and to look after the disburse¬ 
ments. 

In the face of all this plain teaching of the 
New Testament, can any one deny that all scrip¬ 
tural congregations are organized—each one an 
independent organization, with divinely appointed 
officers ? 

It is now in order to consider the 
Membership, question of membership in a con¬ 
gregation. Since God has or¬ 
dained that certain men should be overseers, it is 
inevitable that there should be others over whom 
this oversight is exercised. And these persons 
must submit to this oversight and in some way 
make known their willingness to be under the 
rule, discipline, and watch care of the elders; oth¬ 
erwise there could be no elders, and hence no di¬ 
vine organization. When a Christian severs his 


16 


The Model Church. 


connection with one congregation—goes from un¬ 
der the oversight of one set of elders—he must, 
if he wishes to respect the Lord’s order, unite 
himself with the congregation where he goes— 
publicly make known his willingness to be under 
that eldership. Much teaching is needed on this 
point. 

The condition in some cities, and even in some 
rural districts, can be illustrated by two circles: 



Let the inner circle represent the place of wor¬ 
ship and the outer circle the geographical boun¬ 
dary of the church—that is, the members live 
within that radius of the place of meeting. Fre¬ 
quently the outer circles meet and sometimes they 
overlap; and when that condition exists, we often 
witness the sad spectacle of Christians drifting 
around from one place of worship to another and 
not claiming to be members of any local organiza¬ 
tion or church. Such persons are clearly out of 
harmony with the will of God and are hindering 
his cause. 

Again, there can occasionally be found a 
brother, who is neither as wise as a serpent nor 


The Model Church. 


17 


as harmless as a dove, but who is rather more 
hobbyistic than holy, who will prate against keep¬ 
ing a church roll and against “putting in mem¬ 
bership” or “taking membership” with a congre¬ 
gation. But men of that kind would thwart the 
divine arrangement and defeat the plan of God. 
How can the elder have charge of persons to 
watch concerning their souls without knowing 
who is thus committed to him? And how can he 
exercise the divine function of oversight, rule, 
control, etc., unless the persons submit themselves 
to him? Just such objections as we are here con¬ 
sidering have resulted in the disorganized condi¬ 
tion of the churches all over the country. They 
have nullified the work of elders and have robbed 
the church of the living God of its power in every 
place where their influence is felt. People hear 
the gospel and are converted to Christ; but the 
church, which should offer them a home and spir¬ 
itual food, recognizes them just long enough to 
count them and report a “big meeting,” and then 
goes on splitting hairs, wrangling, and riding 
hobbies, and these babes in Christ straightway 
go back into the world. Not only is this too fre¬ 
quently the case, but it is also a fact susceptible 
of demonstration that a large per cent of our own 
children are growing up and either joining some 
denomination or remaining unbelievers. This 
condition must not be allowed to continue. If 
Christianity is not strong enough to impress it¬ 
self upon one who has been under its influence 
from infancy through all the years of adoles¬ 
cence—the formative period of life—how will it 
2 


18 


The Model Church. 


ever overcome its bitter antagonists? How can 
we say, “This is the victory that overcometh the 
world, even our faith,” if our faith doesn’t even 
overcome those nearest to us ? Is the fault in the 
principle of the religion, or is it in our lives? Is 
the fault in the faith or in our faith—rather, our 
lack of faith? These questions get close to the 
secrets of our lives, and we should all give them 
careful and conscientious consideration. Too 
frequently we find people whose faith seems to be 
in some doctrine, theory, or hobby, and not in 
Christ. Their efforts are prompted by partisan 
zeal, and their only exertions in the name of reli¬ 
gion are when some opponent attacks what “we” 
believe; then they will rush with might and main, 
muscle and money, to the defense of “our doc¬ 
trine” They love “our doctrine,” but they mani¬ 
fest but little love for the millions of souls that 
are perishing at home and abroad for the want 
of the gospel of our blessed Lord. They can argue 
eloquently that only those who hear the sayings of 
Christ and do them can be saved; they can prove 
by numerous passages of scripture that one who 
refuses to be baptized has not done the will of 
Christ—is a rebel against his authority and com¬ 
mand; but they seem to be utterly unable to see 
that if they fail to contribute of their means as 
the Lord has prospered them, if they fail to re¬ 
gard the Lord’s appointed order in the congrega¬ 
tion, if they do not read the Scriptures, pray, re¬ 
pent, and confess their sins, forgive one another, 
love one another, and bear one another’s bur- 


The Model Church. 


19 


dens, they are also not doing the Lord's will— 
they also are rebels. The worst and saddest of all 
is that they are self-deceived. They think they 
are Christians. There are not many of that type, 
however; and it is hoped that they will become 
fewer and fewer. 

Every congregation organized after the New 
Testament order should be a missionary society 
and every member a campaigner for Christ. For¬ 
saking not “their own assembling," but “exhort¬ 
ing each other daily," they labor together in mu¬ 
tual helpfulness; and when one member suffers, 
all the members suffer with him; and when a 
member moves out of the town or community, he 
departs with the blessings of the church and with 
letters to commend him to the brethren wherever 
he may go. Then they will receive him readily 
and give him the encouragement and spiritual 
help that he needs and must have in order to be 
faithful. 

Under our present slipshod way of doing 
things, any sort of schismatic or hobbyist may 
tear up a church and then go to another and be 
received and get in his evil work there before he 
is known; or even one who has been withdrawn 
from by a congregation for unchristian conduct, 
incest, or immorality may go to another congre¬ 
gation and be received. We are a long way from 
the New Testament. 

In a scriptural congregation, if a member 
leaves without formally severing his connection 
with the congregation by asking for a letter, the 


20 


The Model Church. 


faithful elders will soon miss him and find out 
where he has gone, and then communicate with 
the elders of his nearest congregation concerning 
him. Yes, and they will communicate with the 
brother himself, for they watch concerning his 
soul. So perfect is the Lord’s arrangements. 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. What is the church of God ? 

2. Can one be a Christian and not belong to the 

church ? 

3. How does one become a church member ? 

4. What is a congregation ? 

5. What are the officers of a congregation ? 

6. Should every Christian be a member of some 

congregation ? 

7. How does one become a member of a congre¬ 

gation? Answer: By stating his willing¬ 
ness to work with the congregation and to 
be under its elders. This is all that is nec¬ 
essary where the person is known. If he 
is a stranger, he should have a letter or 
some other evidence of his faithfulness. 

8. Is it possible to carry on the Lord’s work 

properly without organization? Can you 
have discipline without it? 

9. What is some of the work of a congregation ? 

Note. —Do not confuse the duties and responsi¬ 
bilities of the congregation, as such, with the du¬ 
ties and privileges of an individual. If the indi¬ 
vidual, for instance, puts into the treasury each 
Lord’s day as he is prospered , he is not likely to 
have money to give to other benevolent purposes; 


The Model Church. 


21 


but if he wishes to make a sacrifice in order to do 
that, he has that privilege. 

10. What are the officers of a scriptural congre- 

gregation ? 

11. How many elders should each congregation 

have? 

Note.—A plurality. The number should be de¬ 
termined by the size and needs of the congrega¬ 
tion, and also by the number of men it has who 
are qualified for the place. Very few churches 
will ever have too many. 

12. Over how many churches should one set or 

board of elders preside? 

13. What is meant by church autonomy or con¬ 

gregational independence ? 

14. What is the difference between the elders and 

bishops of the New Testament churches 
and the elders and bishops of the Meth¬ 
odist Church and the Episcopal Church? 
Answer: In the New Testament church a 
plurality of elders presided over one 
church; but the Methodist elder presides 
over a plurality of churches, and then the 
bishop presides over him; whereas in the 
New Testament an elder and bishop are 
the same—two terms for one man. The 
Episcopal bishop, one man , also presides 
over a whole diocese. 


CHAPTER II. 


The Qualifications of an Elder. 


It was shown in the preceding chapter that 
there were elders in every congregation in the 
apostolic times, and that it is essential in any well- 
ordered congregation to-day that elders be ap¬ 
pointed and duly recognized. Since, then, no con¬ 
gregation is like the New Testament pattern and 
cannot do the work of the Lord without being 
thus organized, it is necessary that all Christians 
be well instructed on all questions pertaining to 
the organization. What are the qualifications of 
an elder? How is an elder made? What are the 
duties of a congregation to her elders? All of 
these questions are exceedingly important, be¬ 
cause if we do not know the teaching of the Lord 
on these points we can never be what the Lord 
wants us to be or do what the Lord wants us to 
do. Again, these questions are important because 
of a woeful lack of information on these points 
among church members. 

The reader is not unaware, perhaps, that there 
is some controversy on these questions. But, as 
in some other cases, the controversy, instead of 
clearing up the matter, has to some extent com¬ 
plicated it and obscured some plain truths. Breth¬ 
ren have talked and argued so much about how 




The Model Church. 


23 


things ought to be done and criticized each other 
to such an extent that there are some good Chris¬ 
tians who, not wishing to take sides in a contro¬ 
versy, have given the question no consideration 
whatever. They have regarded it as something 
to be let alone. This has been the attitude of 
many young preachers. They have shunned the 
question for fear they would start a controversy 
or cause factions among some of the churches. 
But these are scriptural questions, and they vi¬ 
tally concern us; and we cannot, therefore, af¬ 
ford to be ignorant of them. No teacher of God’s 
word is faithful to his trust if he shuns to declare 
all that God teaches on these and all other ques¬ 
tions. Sometimes we hesitate to present what 
the New Testament teaches relative to the elders 
and their duties and qualifications because we find 
our practices clearly out of harmony with it in 
many instances. This, however, is unworthy of 
any honest, God-fearing seeker after truth. 
When the scriptural qualifications of an elder are 
presented, if any brother who is recognized as an 
elder finds himself deficient in any of them, let 
him begin at once to develop the needed grace or 
condition. If for any reason he finds that it will 
be impossible for him soon to measure up to the 
divine standard, let him refuse to be recognized 
as holding this responsible position among Chris¬ 
tians. If he is too sensitive to have his deficien¬ 
cies pointed out, or if, seeing them, he refuses to 
get out of the way, that alone is certain and suf¬ 
ficient evidence that he is not fit for the place and 


24 


The Model Church. 


should be told by the congregation to retire. He 
should not be allowed to blockade the Lord’s work. 
This painful experience will never be necessary if 
the Scriptures are followed in selecting and ap¬ 
pointing elders. Let every Christian, therefore, 
learn what the New Testament teaches. Let him 
forget that there was ever a disputed point in this 
whole subject, and let him study just as if what 
the Lord says had just recently been spoken to 
him by the Lord and had never been heard or 
read by a human being before. 

Since some (both) of the qualifications and of 
the duties of the elders are seen in the words that 
designate them, it is probably as appropriate to 
give those words with definitions here as in the 
chapter on duties. No one can be well informed 
on the important questions we are studying unless 
he makes a careful study of these words. For 
instance, it is sometimes said that an elder is not 
an officer in the church, and that the place he 
holds is not to be considered an office. But it 
will be seen that the word presbuteros, which is 
universally translated “elder,” had that significa¬ 
tion both among the Hebrews and the Greeks. 
Elders were common among the Jews. Every 
synagogue had its bench of elders. They gave 
counsel and advice, decided questions, and pre¬ 
sided over the people. That they were looked 
upon as holding an office, and not simply as old or 
elderly men, may be seen from the following: 
“And Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather unto me 
seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou 


The Model Church. 


25 


knowest to be the elders of the people, and offi¬ 
cers over them.” (Num. 11: 16.) The Hebrew 
word for “elders” in this passage is zawkane, 
and in the Septuagint the word is presbuteroi, 
which is always “elders” in the English text. An¬ 
other passage which shows that the word desig¬ 
nates an officer is Luke 22: 66. It reads: “And 
as soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders 
of the people was gathered together, both chief 
priests and scribes; and they led him away into 
their council.” Here Luke seems to use the word 
to embrace the whole Jewish court, council, or 
Sanhedrin. It is true that the expression, “office 
of a bishop,” in 1 Tim. 3: 1 is from a single Greek 
word; and some have contended, therefore, that 
the word “office” should be eliminated. But the 
man who objects to the expression as conveying 
the wrong meaning would have difficulty in trans¬ 
lating the sentence so as to omit the objectionable 
idea. And it devolves upon him to do that very 
thing. If he objects to the rendering of our 
standard translations, he is under obligation to 
give us a better rendering. But can he do it? 
He might easily omit the word “office,” but he 
cannot properly translate the sentence without 
retaining the same idea. The Greek word is epis- 
copes, the noun in the genitive case, showing that 
it is something belonging to the bishop, something 
of the bishop; hence, most naturally, “office of a 
bishop.” The noun must be so translated as to 
show its genitive or possessive nature and at the 
same time to supply an object for the verb. “If 


26 


The Model Church. 


a man desire the-of a bishop, he desireth 

a good work. ,, Let the reader supply the word— 
fill in the blank. This noun occurs only four 
times in the New Testament. It is twice trans¬ 
lated “visitation” (Luke 19: 44; 1 Pet. 2: 12), 
and once “bishopric” (Acts 1: 20, A. V.) or “o/- 
fice” (R. V.), and once “office of a bishop” (1 
Tim. 3:1). It is plain that it could not be trans¬ 
lated “visitation” in the passage in Timothy. It 
could be translated “bishopric” or “overseer- 
ship,” but that would not change the idea or bet¬ 
ter express the meaning. The eldership is an of¬ 
fice, and there is too much evidence to prove it for 
any one to deny it if he will consider evidence. 
Presbuteros itself is a term of rank or office. 
However unscriptural the hierarchies of present- 
day religious denominations may be, they cer¬ 
tainly are unscriptural and even antiscriptural; 
and however much we may emphasize the blessed 
doctrine of humility and equality among Chris¬ 
tians, it is, nevertheless, a fact that we must not 
deny that the New Testament churches had men 
in them holding the office of a bishop—the bishop¬ 
ric or overseership—into which they were in¬ 
ducted by some form of appointment or ordina¬ 
tion. And that there was some honor to being 
thus recognized is shown by the expression, “if 
a man desire the office of a bishop.” This im¬ 
plies that it was something to be aspired to and 
desired. Again, the precaution against appoint¬ 
ing a novice, lest he become inflated with the 
honor, further illustrates the same point. If we 



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27 


can give people the proper conception of this no¬ 
ble and honorable work, there will be men to-day 
who will “desire the office of a bishop,” and they 
will prepare themselves for it. 

It should be observed that there are several 
different words in the New Testament that desig¬ 
nate an elder. The words are not synonymous, 
but they very evidently refer to the same person, 
each one representing some particular phase of 
his office, work, or duty. These words in English 
are “bishop,” “elder,” “presbyter,” “pastor” or 
“shepherd,” “overseer,” and “ruler” (“those who 
rule”—Rom. 12: 8). 

Let us now learn the meaning of these words, 
for in them we have many of the duties and quali¬ 
fications of those who are to do the work of a 
bishop. These words and their definitions are 
here presented in a form that can be used as a 
chart if any class so desires to use them. On the 
left of the brace is the Greek word, first in Greek 
then spelled out in English. Beneath these is the 
English word by which the Greek word is or may 
be translated and the reference in which the word 
is found. On the right of the brace the definitions 
are given in full from Thayer’s Greek-English 
Lexicon of the New Testament. By this method 
it is hoped that the youngest Bible student may be 
able to appreciate the lesson from these words. 


28 


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arlaKoiros 
episcopos 
bishop, overseer 
(Acts 20: 28; Tit. 
1: 7; 1 Tim. 4: , 
1; Phil. 1: 1.) | 

/ An overseer—a man charged with 
the duty of seeing that things done by 
\ others are done rightly; any curator, 
] guardian, or superintendent; in the 
\ New Testament, a guardian of souls, 
/ one who watches over their welfare; 

the superintendent, head, or overseer 

1 of any Christian church. 

ir pea fivr epos 

presbuteros 
presbyter, elder / 
(Acts 14: 23; l( 
Tim. 5; 1, 17; 
Tit. 1: 5; 1 

Pet. 5: 1.) j 

1. Of age— (a) the elder of two; 
(b) advanced in life—an elder, a 
senior. 

i 2. A term of rank or office; (a) 

\ among the Jews, a member of the 
i Sanhedrin; (6) those who preside 
/over the assemblies (or churches). 
That they did not differ from the 
(episcopos ) bishops or overseers is 
\ evident from the fact that the two 
j words are used indiscriminately. 
1 (Acts 20: 17, 28; Tit. 1: 5, 7.) The 
' title episcopos denotes the function; 
presbuteros, the dignity. The former 
was borrowed from Greek institu¬ 
tions; the latter, from the Jewish. 

•KOip^V 1 

poimeen 

pastor, shepherd ( 
(1 Pet. 2: 25; 5: 
2; Eph. 4: 11.) 1 

A herdsman, especially a shepherd; 
(a) in the parable, he to whose care 
i and control others have committed 
themselves and whose precepts they 
follow (John 10: 11, 14); ( b) me- 
I taph, the presiding officer, manager, 
director of any assembly. So of 
Christ (1 Pet. 2: 25); so of overseers 
of Christian churches (Eph. 4: 11). 

tt poiar ap.evos 
proistamenos I 

to rule. (Rom. 1 
12: 8.) 

“are over you.” , 
(1 Thess. 5: 
12.) , 
“rule well.” (1 / 
Tim. 5:17.) 1 

ruler, president 

1. To set or place before, to set over. 

2. (a) To be over, superintend; to 
\ preside over (1 Tim. 5: 17) ; with the 
/ genitive of the person or thing over 
\ which one presides (1 Thess. 5: 12; 

) 1 Tim. 3:4); (b) to be a protector 

or guardian; to give aid (Rom. 12: 8, 
to rule). 


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29 


, / 1. To lead—i. e., (a) to go before: 

iiyov/ievoi 1(b) to be a leader; to rule, com- 

hegoumenoi } mand; to have authority over; lead- 

to lead, to rule < ing as respects influence, controlling 

(Heb. 13: 7, 17, J in counsel; so of the overseers or lead- 

24.) ( ers of the Christian churches (Heb. 

\ 13: 7, 17, 24). 

As it is the duty of a bishop to care for, watch 
over, rule over, and lead a congregation of Chris¬ 
tians, it is certainly no matter of surprise that 
the Lord has been very minute in telling us just 
the kind of men to place in this position. It is a 
hazardous business to ignore or to make void any 
of God’s arrangements. Because men have been 
honored with the office of a bishop who were un¬ 
worthy of it, many churches have come lightly to 
regard the Lord’s appointed. Even in some 
places the elders (so called) are treated with 
contempt by some members of their flock. This 
is bringing God’s order down very low indeed. 
Either the man should cease to be recognized as 
an elder or he should be treated with the respect 
and deference due an elder. 

But the qualifications of a bishop are many, 
and are such that no man can possess them and 
not be a power for good wherever he is. No man 
can possess all these qualities and not be respected 
and loved by his fellow men, whether he has ever 
been appointed to the overseership or not. Chris¬ 
tians will naturally seek counsel and instruction 
from such a man. He inspires confidence and 
elicits the best there is in one. Let us remove the 
cause of trouble, then, by appointing men who 


30 


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meet the divine requirements. The qualifications 
mentioned in the third chapter of the First Epis¬ 
tle to Timothy and the first chapter of the letter 
to Titus are here given in a tabulated form in the 
hope that they will be duly impressed upon the 
minds of the readers. These are quoted from the 
American Revised Version. 


Timothy. 


Titus. 


1. Without reproach. 1. 

2. Husband of one wife. 2. 

3. Temperate. 3. 

4. Sober-minded. 4. 

5. Orderly. 5. 

6. Given to hospitality. 6. 

7. Apt to teach. 7. 

8. No brawler. 8. 

9. No striker. 9. 

10. Gentle. 10. 

11. Not contentious. 11. 

12. No lover of money. 12. 

13. Rules well his own house. 13. 

14. Not a novice. 14. 

15. Good testimony from 15. 

without. 


Blameless. 

Husband of one wife. 
Having children that be¬ 
lieve. 

Not self-willed. 

Not soon angry. 

No brawler. 

No striker. 

Not greedy of filthy lucre. 
Given to hospitality. 
Lover of good. 
Sober-minded. 

Just. 

Holy. 

Self-controlled. 

Sound in the faith. 


The first and the second are the same in both 
Timothy and Titus; the third in Titus is the 
thirteenth in Timothy; the fifth in Titus seems to 
correspond with the tenth in Timothy; the sixth 
and the seventh in Titus are the same as the 
eighth and ninth in Timothy; the eighth in Titus 
is the twelfth in Timothy; the ninth in Titus is 
the sixth in Timothy; the eleventh and the fourth 
are the same; and the fourteenth in Titus is the 
third in Timothy. But this leaves five in Titus 
that are not mentioned in Timothy—namely, 


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31 


numbers four, ten, twelve, thirteen, and fifteen. 
And since they both have an equal number, this, 
of course, leaves five in Timothy that are not 
mentioned in Titus. They are numbers five, seven, 
eleven, fourteen, and fifteen. This, then, gives 
twenty qualifications that every bishop must pos¬ 
sess. But it is claimed by some men that it is not 
necessary for each elder to possess every one of 
the qualifications, but that enough men, each one 
possessing some of the qualifications that another 
does not possess, be appointed to have all the 
qualifications in the eldership of each church. 
This, however, is very obviously wrong. What 
requirement is it that any elder can afford to be 
deficient in? Can one be a lover of money pro¬ 
vided the others are not? Can one be a brawler 
if some of the others are not brawlers? Can one 
be contentious provided the others are not con¬ 
tentious? Can one be unholy, unjust, intemper¬ 
ate, self-willed, soon angry, disorderly, or un¬ 
mannerly, provided his fellow elders in the same 
church are the reverse? Considered in this way, 
the contention appears to be absurd. It was de¬ 
vised, no doubt, to justify some man who had 
been appointed to the overseership, but who was 
manifestly not apt to teach. It is no unusual 
thing these times to find a man professing to 
serve in the capacity of an elder who cannot lead 
a public prayer, much less offer words of instruc¬ 
tion to the congregation. Yet he has been ap¬ 
pointed by the Holy Spirit (?) to feed the flock! 
This is a travesty on the divine order. 


32 


The Model Church. 


If these requirements appear to be rigid, just 
take time to consider them and see which one any 
Christian should not possess. Aside from the 
fact that an elder is not to be a novice—new con¬ 
vert—there is not a thing required in his charac¬ 
ter that is not also required of every Christian to 
some degree. The elder is supposed to have 
these things developed in his life to a greater de¬ 
gree than the average Christian, because he is 
older as a Christian than many (not a novice) 
and because he has (should have) “desired,” 
stretched forward to, or prepared himself for the 
office of a bishop. Every Christian is to be a 
teacher (Heb. 5: 12; Tit. 2: 3, 4; Matt. 28: 18- 
20) ; but a bishop is to be apt to teach, gifted as a 
teacher, capable to teach, qualified to give instruc¬ 
tion, and so familiar with the Scriptures that he 
can convict the gainsayers and put them to si¬ 
lence. He must by sound teaching be able both to 
exhort and convince. (Tit. 1: 9-11.) 

In saying that all the qualifications are to be 
possessed by all Christian men in some degree, it 
is assumed that the expression, “the husband of 
one wife,” means the husband of but one wife. If 
a man insists that this requires an elder to be a 
married man, he would also have to insist that 
the third qualification mentioned in Titus re¬ 
quires an elder to have children; not only that, 
but his children must be old enough to be believ¬ 
ers. If they are old enough and are not believers, 
the man is disqualified. It seems that that is an 
extreme view, but it would be best to have men 


The Model Church. 


33 


who are heads of families as elders if they can be 
had and if they possess the other qualifications. 
And if a man had children who are grown and are 
not Christians, it would be well to consider 
whether or not he is not lacking in some of the 
qualifications of an elder; for it would seem 
strange that a man measuring up to this high 
standard of Christian conduct could have the 
training of a child from its birth and fail to make 
a Christian of it. Would he be capable of caring 
for and training the babes in Christ, or would 
they, too, go astray under his influence and guid¬ 
ance? 

It should not be thought that the word “blame¬ 
less” means “sinless” or “faultless.” No man is 
faultless. It means that the man should be irre¬ 
proachable, unblameworthy in any manner of con¬ 
duct. He is not “blamed” or charged with any 
misdealing by his fellow men, but is recognized 
by all as an honest, honorable, upright Christian 
gentleman. 

Each student should get a Bible dictionary and 
a good commentary, and, with these aids, study 
carefully every one of the twenty qualifications of 
an elder. 

Every congregation that has existed for any 
number of years should have men in it who pos¬ 
sess these qualifications and should be training 
others for the work of a bishop. 


3 


34 


The Model Church. 


Questions for Discussion. 

1. How many words are used in the New Testa¬ 

ment to designate an elder ? 

2. Name these words. 

3. Is there any difference in an elder and a 

bishop? An elder and a pastor? 

4. Is the eldership an office in the church? If 

not, what does the appointing, ordination, 
or consecration do for him? 

5. How many qualifications of an elder does Paul 

mention in Timothy and Titus? 

6. Name them. 

7. Does each elder in every church have to pos¬ 

sess all of these? 

Note. —Besides these qualifications, every elder 
should possess natural characteristics of sense, 
judgment, tact, ability to lead, etc. A man may 
be in every sense a good man and still not have 
sufficient force or strength of personality to im¬ 
press his goodness upon others. If a man “rules 
well his own house,” it is pretty fair evidence that 
he has some ability to lead and govern. 

8. What does “apt to teach” mean ? 

9. What does “orderly” mean? 

10. What does “blameless” mean? 

11. Should a man be appointed to the eldership 

who does not possess the qualifications? 

12. Where a church does not have “material” for 

elders, what should it do? 

Note.— If you cannot agree as to the meaning 
of all the qualifications, such as “the husband of 
one wife,” take a safe course and do not argue 
and contend. Strife is deadly; it kills. Conten¬ 
tions are a devil’s stew pot, a witch’s cauldron. 


CHAPTER III. 


The Duties of the Elders. 


In this chapter we shall endeavor to set forth 
just what the Scriptures show to be the work of 
elders, with little effort to elaborate or illustrate. 
Every reader who has had any experience in 
Christian service or who has with any care ob¬ 
served the condition and working of the church 
will be able to call to mind examples of the disas¬ 
trous results of not having these duties per¬ 
formed, either because there were no elders or 
the so-called “elders” were negligent and incom¬ 
petent. As some of the duties of the elders were 
shown in the preceding chapter, because they 
were contained in the terms that designate the 
elders, so also will some of the lessons of the 
next chapter be implied in this. It would be im¬ 
possible to present the elders’ relation to their 
flock without showing by implication at least a 
part of the flock’s relation to the elders. But 
these lessons are so very important that they can¬ 
not be stressed too much. A proper understand¬ 
ing and application of these lessons on the organ¬ 
ization of the congregation will revolutionize the 
majority of our congregations everywhere. 
Therefore let us make an honest and a prayer¬ 
ful effort to learn fully what God declares to be 
the work of the elders. 




36 


The Model Church. 


We could not begin the effort in a better way 
than by quoting two matchless passages on this 
subject from the two greatest apostles—Paul and 
Peter. To the elders of Ephesus, Paul said: "Take 
heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which 
the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed 
the church of the Lord which he purchased with 
his own blood.” (Acts 20: 28.) To your elders, 
or the elders that are among you, Peter said: 
"The elders therefore among you I exhort, who 
am a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings 
of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory 
that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God 
which is among you, exercising the oversight, not 
of constraint, but willingly, according to the will 
of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready 
mind: neither as lording it over the charge al¬ 
lotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to 
the flock.” (1 Pet. 5: 1-3.) 

Before studying the duties here laid upon the 
elders, let us notice particularly Peter’s negative 
injunctions. Whatever the elders do must be 
done: 

1. “Not of constraint” or by compulsion, 
hence reluctantly, but with a willing mind; 
anxious to serve, willing to suffer, and ready 
always to do the will of the Lord. 

2. “Nor yet for filthy lucre ”—not as a 
means of livelihood. This shows that the 
elders in the New Testament times were paid 
by their flocks for their work or were sup¬ 
ported while they did the work. But they 


The Model Church. 


37 


were strictly forbidden to do the work with 
a view to the pay. Elders, preachers, or any 
others who do any part of the Lord's work 
for money are unworthy. 

3. “Neither as lording it over the charge 
allotted to you." Some have inferred that 
the elders in this passage were simply the 
elderly men of the church, because the apos¬ 
tle in the same connection gives an exhor¬ 
tation to the “youngerbut that these elders 
were the bishops—those who held the office 
of a bishop—is shown by the fact that they 
had a “charge allotted to them" and that 
they were not to do their work for “filthy 
lucre." Also what is here commanded of 
these elders is exactly what other scriptures 
state as the duties of bishops. The word 
“younger" means “inferior" (Luke 22: 26), 
and here evidently refers to those subject to 
the elders—those “allotted” to them. 

Much harm comes from a lack of judgment 
in applying scripture, and more often from a lack 
of sincerity; for surely our judgment would not 
be so faulty if our desires were right. If a church 
member is obstreperous, or if a whole church sets 
out to do something that is not right, when the 
elders object or protest, they are sure to be told 
that they are not to “lord it” over the church; 
and thus those bent on evil will force that expres¬ 
sion to license them to ignore the elders and even 
impeach them. On the other hand, if an elder 


38 


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lacks enough of the divinely required qualifica¬ 
tions to be arbitrary and tyrannical, he may take 
those passages that contain the word “rule” and 
put a forced construction upon them. But one 
whose desire is to do the will of God will have no 
trouble with either of the scriptures. His ideas, 
whims, and preferences are secondary, and he 
first seeks to know what the Lord wishes instead 
of trying to force the Lord to say what he wishes. 
The elders are to be over the church, have the 
oversight; but they are not to act as feudal lords 
and treat their brethren as servile servants. 
They are not to be arbitrary, tyrannical, or un¬ 
duly dictatorial. All their work is to be done not 
for their own glory or gratification, but for the 
good of those allotted to them. They are the 
servants of the servants of the Lord. 

Analyzing the above quotations from Paul and 
Peter, we learn several of the duties that belong 
to the elders. Paul admonishes them to— 

1. “Take heed to yourselves In serving God, 
self always comes first in this very important 
sense. He who would save a man from drown¬ 
ing must have a firm footing himself; he who 
would pluck the mote from his brother’s eye must 
see that there is no beam in his own eye. Before 
we condemn others, we must examine ourselves to 
see whether we are in the faith. (2 Cor. 13: 5.) 
He who would be a faithful workman must first 
give diligence to present himself approved unto 
God (2 Tim. 2: 15) ; he who would save souls 
must give heed first to himself and then to his 


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39 


teaching, for in so doing he will save himself and 
those who hear him (1 Tim. 4: 16). The elders 
are to be examples for their flocks, and no man 
can live an exemplary life without taking heed to 
himself. He must watch his words, his deeds, 
and his thoughts. He must study the word of God 
and try earnestly and prayerfully to be what God 
says an elder must be. How necessary that he 
who is to take heed to the flock must first take 
heed to himself! 

2. “To feed the church of God” Of all the 
work that is given to the elders, nothing is more 
important than this, and nothing is more sadly 
and shamefully neglected in our day than this 
often-commanded duty. We cannot live phys¬ 
ically without food; neither can we live spiritually 
without spiritual food. God has provided the 
food for us, and has ordained that each congrega¬ 
tion have qualified men appointed to dispense this 
food. That is why God has particularly required 
every bishop to be apt to teach. If a congrega¬ 
tion goes wrong for the want of proper instruc¬ 
tion, the elders are at fault. But this does not 
mean the elders are to confine their teaching to 
certain doctrines, such as faith, repentance, bap¬ 
tism, the sin of using an organ in the worship, 
etc.; but they must strive to teach all God teaches, 
teach their flocks to observe all that God com¬ 
mands. Their teaching should not consist en¬ 
tirely in criticisms of the methods of others; 
should not be altogether negative and destructive. 
They should have a positive message, and should 


40 


The Model Church. 


impress the brethren that they stand for some¬ 
thing; that they have something to do and must 
be about their Father's business if they would be 
saved. Their teaching must be constructive; it 
must build up Christian characters. It is not 
necessary that the elders do all the teaching that 
is done, but all that is done must be done under 
their supervision and with their approval. If 
there is a Sunday-school class or other Bible 
classes taught in the church, the elders must over¬ 
see the work and know that it is done properly. 
They should visit the classes or in some other way 
keep informed as to what they are doing. If any 
teacher teaches error, he should be corrected and 
admonished; and if he will not desist, he must be 
asked to give up his class. If any teacher is not 
regular in attendance, does not feel his responsi¬ 
bility, does not prepare his lessons, or in any other 
way shows a lack of interest, he should be either 
stirred up to do his work faithfully or asked to 
quit. How many elders do you know who show 
this sort of interest in the teachers and classes of 
the Bible schools? 

There are men who do not approve this class sys¬ 
tem. They think the elders ought to do all the 
teaching and that all the church should be in one 
class! That is, they think that if they happen to 
be the elders. If they are not the elders, they are 
pretty certain to argue that we should not have 
elders in the church to-day. It hardly seems pos¬ 
sible that such men could be found in a civilized 
country, but such is the case. For the honest per- 


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41 


sons who may be troubled by such men let us ob¬ 
serve : 

There are different classes of individuals to be 
taught and different kinds of food provided for 
them. This is true without even considering the 
children who are not yet old enough to be mem¬ 
bers of the church. There are babes in Christ, 
and these must have milk. There are full-grown 
men in the faith, and these require the strong 
meat. (1 Cor. 2:6; Heb. 5: 12-14; 1 Pet. 2: 1, 2.) 
This, of course, necessitates a separation into 
classes in order that the teaching be done to the 
best advantage. To further illustrate this neces¬ 
sity, we remind you that there are persons who 
and times when women are forbidden to teach. 
Yet women are by the same authority solemnly 
commanded to teach. (Tit. 2: 3-5.) They must 
be teachers of that which is good. This shows 
clearly that those whom the women teach must be 
in a class apart from those whom it is improper 
for women to teach publicly. Here let us be re¬ 
minded that all this teaching does not have to be 
done in forty-five minutes on Sunday forenoon. 
All churches should have plenty of classrooms to 
accommodate all the children and the milk-and- 
meat classes in the church. These rooms should 
be well supplied with charts and maps and other 
conveniences for teaching. The classes may meet 
and study and recite any day or night of the week 
or as many days or nights of the week as may be 
convenient. Why do we not have more work like 
this? Is it not needed? 


42 


The Model Church. 


If the assistance of an evangelist is required by 
the congregation, his work, too, must come un¬ 
der the direction of the elders. How else could a 
congregation be protected against false teachers? 
If the elders feel the need of an evangelist, they, 
with the church, may employ him for two weeks, 
six weeks, two months, six months, a year, two 
years, or as long as his services are needed. He 
should not, however, be allowed to displace the 
pastors and become the pastor. There are exam¬ 
ples in the New Testament of evangelists, apos¬ 
tles, and others who were not elders laboring 
with churches that had elders. The modern pas¬ 
tor system is not scriptural, and the tendency of 
our congregations to drift into it is to be re¬ 
gretted. Those brethren who are now crying 
against it are doing more harm than good, in 
that they are abusing and misrepresenting—un¬ 
intentionally, of course—certain brethren who 
are living with the churches, but who no more 
wish to change the divine order than they do. 
Some of the preachers who are now accusing 
their brethren of digressing in this particular are 
elderly men and have been preaching many years. 
Yet what of the churches that they have been 
preaching for all these years? Are they scriptu- 
rally organized? Do they have scriptural elders 
who are doing their work faithfully? It seems 
that these brethren have waited too long to be¬ 
gin teaching the truth on the organization of the 
local church. It is a sad fact that some congre¬ 
gations now need the constant services of some 


The Model Church. 


43 


evangelist in order to exist, to say nothing about 
doing the work that a church ought to do. They 
have men as elders who are not at all qualified, 
and it takes some outside help to keep down strife 
among the “elders” and between the “elders” and 
their flock. At least, that is known to be the de¬ 
plorable condition of some few churches. Now, 
if an evangelist lives with a church like that for 
the purpose of setting things in order and of plac¬ 
ing the church in scriptural position, he is cer¬ 
tainly doing a good work; and the Lord help a 
man who undertakes it. Brethren would better 
spend their energies trying to improve the con¬ 
dition of the churches instead of wasting them 
abusing those who are trying to do something. 

3. The third duty, as we are numbering them, is 
to “tend the flock” The Greek word for “tend” 
is poimanate, and may be translated “shepherd” 
—shepherd the flock. The imagery here is 
very beautiful. The church is a flock; Christ is 
the chief shepherd, and the elders are the under¬ 
shepherds. As the shepherd feeds his flock and 
protects them from wolves and bears, thieves and 
robbers, so the elders must care for the church. 
They must protect it from evils without and with¬ 
in. They should keep out false teachers. If 
there is a hobbyist in the congregation, the elders 
should not give him any recognition as a public 
teacher, and should keep him from sowing dis¬ 
cord among the brethren as far as is possible for 
them to prevent it. Care is needed here; “for 
there are many unruly men, vain talkers and de- 


44 


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ceivers,” even to-day. The elders should show 
the proper spirit in this sort of work, of course, 
as scriptural elders always will. 

4. “Taking the oversight ” is the fourth duty in 
our catalogue. The word for this expression is 
episcopauntes —one word for the whole expres¬ 
sion. It may be translated '‘filling the office of a 
bishop,” “doing the duty of a bishop,” or “exer¬ 
cising the oversight.” The one given in the Re¬ 
vised Version is probably the best. 

We have already seen that all the teaching in 
the congregation is to be done under the oversight 
of the elders. We may now add that all other ac¬ 
tivities of the church are to be directed and su¬ 
pervised by the elders. They do not do all the 
work, by any means; but they take the oversight 
and see that what is done by the others is done 
rightly. Wise men it takes to fill this place! Well 
may we pray for the Lord to fulfill his words in 
Jeremiah: “And I will give you shepherds accord¬ 
ing to my heart, who shall feed you with knowl¬ 
edge and understanding.” (Jer. 3: 15.) 

5. To rule well is the fifth duty that demands 
our attention. It has already been observed that 
no elder should “lord it over the charge allotted” 
to him. The qualifications required by the New 
Testament will prevent a man who is self-willed, 
self-opinionated, and domineering from being ap¬ 
pointed an elder, if the requirements are observed. 
It is necessary in any well-regulated family, 
church, or school that there be a leader, head, de¬ 
ciding voice. In a school the teacher is the ruler; 


The Model Church. 


45 


in a family the father is, or should be, the head; 
and in a congregation elders are the head. (This 
does not interfere with the fact that Christ is the 
head of the church. Christ is also the shepherd 
of the flock, but the elders are shepherds under 
him.) In a disorganized congregation any offi¬ 
cious old sister or cranky brother holds the veto 
power of the church and may blockade the Lord's 
work entirely. This will never happen where the 
elders are what the Lord has ordained that they 
should be. They will decide what course the con¬ 
gregation is to pursue in any matter, and their 
decision will be final. Thus you see the Lord’s 
plan, if followed, will forestall all factions, dis¬ 
agreements, and dissensions. 

The elders should always consult together and 
reach an agreement among themselves on any 
question before it is brought before the church. 
Otherwise they might have the unfortunate result 
of a disagreement between themselves before the 
congregation, and that would certainly cause a 
disagreement among the members, for they would 
take sides with the different elders. 

When the question for decision is one of mere 
preference or convenience, the elders should rule 
in accord with the wishes of the congregation 
always. If it is a question of who shall preach 
for the church, the members should have the man 
they want, if he is sound in the faith and of good 
report. If it is a question of the time when a 
meeting is to be held, the people must be con¬ 
sulted. If it is a question of what shall be done 


46 


The Model Church. 


with the money contributed by the congregation, 
the members must help decide it. They should 
know just what particular phase of the Lord’s 
work it goes to help and how much to each need. 
They should know what missionary they help and 
to what extent. This is entirely right, and it is 
also expedient. It will give the members more 
interest in the work; they will feel a partnership 
in it; and they can, as they certainly should, pray 
for it. In all cases where no principle of right or 
wrong is involved , the elders should have due re¬ 
gard for the wishes of the congregation . The 
elders should rule their flocks in something like 
the same way that a kind, tactful, yet firm and 
watchful, father rules his family. If any move¬ 
ment is started in the congregation that is con¬ 
trary to the Lord’s word, the elders must stand 
firm for God and put down the evil. 

If any one doubts that God intends that the eld¬ 
ers are to rule in the manner here presented, let 
him read the following scriptures: 1 Tim. 5: 17; 
Heb. 13: 7, 17, 24. Let him also consult the 
meaning of the words that designate an elder. 

6. The elders are to watch in behalf of the souls 
of their flock . (Heb. 13: 17.) They are re¬ 
sponsible for the spiritual condition of their mem¬ 
bers, and will have to give an account to God for 
them. Read carefully the reference—Heb. 13: 17. 
The elders should, therefore, know the spiritual 
status of each member of the congregation. They 
should, by a keen watch care over them, be able 
to see the first indication of indifference, worldli- 


The Model Church. 


47 


ness, or backsliding. They should know whether 
the member is growing or whether he is deteri¬ 
orating. They should know whether the babes in 
Christ are properly nourished, whether they are 
being fed, and whether they are digesting and 
assimilating their food. 

Are we accustomed to see this kind of watch¬ 
fulness on the part of the elders of our present- 
day churches? They rarely know how many 
members they have, and often they do not even 
know some of their members when they meet 
them face to face. Yet these members have been 
“allotted” to them as sheep to a shepherd, and 
they are to feed them, tend them, and watch con¬ 
cerning their souls! The elders, in watching on 
behalf of their “charge," should protect them 
against dangerous doctrines, false teachings, 
hobbies, and strifes about words as far as it is in 
their power to protect them. 

The elders should instruct their members thor¬ 
oughly, admonish them often, even in tears when 
there is danger of their falling, and pray with 
them much. This is necessary in order to keep 
some members from falling away. The elders 
will have to give an account to God for their mem¬ 
bers. Their blood is upon the elders’ heads. 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. How many duties of an elder can you name? 
Can you name any that are not discussed 
in this chapter? What do you think of 
James 5: 15-18? 


48 


The Model Church. 


2. What is it to feed the flock? What sort of 

food does the flock require? 

3. Should the elders do all the teaching? 

4. If they do not do the teaching, how can they 

know what is being taught ? 

5. Who should rule over the congregation ? 

6. How should the elders rule when the question 

is one of preference or convenience? 

7. Who is responsible for the spiritual condition 

of the church? 

8. How should the members be kept from back¬ 

sliding? 

9. In ruling the congregation, should the elders 

do things without the knowledge, hence 
without the acquiescence, of the members ? 

10. Should they not rather plan and propose work 

and lead in it, but always secure the aid 
and participation of all their members? 

11. Is it not their duty to develop the talent in 

the congregation ? 

12. Should they not make teachers of all the mem¬ 

bers? (Heb. 5:12.) 

13. Instead of the elders doing all the work, is it 

not their duty to see that all work? (Heb. 
10: 24.) 

14. When an elder fails to discharge these duties, 

should he be recognized by the congrega¬ 
tion as one of its elders? Why should he 
be recognized? What entitles him to such 
recognition and respect? Does he claim 
it? If so, that shows him to be all the more 
unworthy. 


CHAPTER IV. 


The Relation of the Overseen to the Overseer. 


There must always be an understanding and 
agreement between the elders and the congrega¬ 
tion if their work is either pleasant or profitable. 
The Lord knew this, and he has made laws to 
govern their conduct toward each other. The 
Lord’s laws are perfect, and his way is always 
best. He knew the human nature before he de¬ 
vised the plan of redemption, and all the laws 
that he has given to regulate human conduct are 
adapted perfectly to man’s needs, frailties, and 
weaknesses, though not always to man’s wishes. 
All the disorder, misunderstanding, jarrings, and 
frictions of earth come as the result of the infrac¬ 
tion of some of God’s laws. Where his laws are 
known and properly observed, there is always har¬ 
mony and peace and perfection. 

When man and woman lived in their Edenic 
home and were the companions of their Creator, 
there was no law given to govern their relation¬ 
ship further than that they should be one flesh. 
They needed no law then. God’s order obtained, 
and all things were good and very good. Both 
woman and man filled their respective spheres as 
naturally as the fishes swam in the water or the 
birds flew in the heavens. The question of their 

4 




50 


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inferiority or superiority to each other never 
troubled them. It was after sin entered the home 
of man and wrought its ruin that God told the 
woman that her desire should be to her husband 
and he should rule over her. A failure to observe 
this law has made countless thousands mourn. 

In the interest of the cause of Christ and for 
the peace and happiness of each local church, 
every Christian should learn what is the will of 
God relative to the organization of the local 
church. Having learned in the preceding chap¬ 
ters that each congregation is to have a board of 
elders, and having studied the duties and qualifi¬ 
cations of elders, it is now appropriate to learn 
what are the duties of each church to her elders. 
Let us number the New Testament injunctions to 
the members of the congregations and take par¬ 
ticular notice of them just as we did its instruc¬ 
tions to the elders. The members are admonished 
to— 

1. Duly regard the elders . (1 Thess. 5: 

12.) “But we beseech you, brethren, to 
know them that labor among you, and are 
over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 
and to esteem them exceeding highly in love 
for their work's sake." The word which is 
here translated “to know" is used Hebrais- 
tically and means “to acknowledge," “to re¬ 
spect," or “duly regard." Any Christian 
who ignores the elders and proceeds with 
any of the affairs of the church without con¬ 
sulting their wishes or heeding their direc- 


The Model Church. 


51 


tions is in flagrant disobedience to this pas¬ 
sage of scripture. Any member who lightly 
regards their admonitions or disrespects 
their ruling is guilty of disobeying God. 

2. Esteem them exceeding highly in love. 
This emphasizes the first admonition. They 
are admonished to know and to esteem the 
elders—not only to esteem them, but to es¬ 
teem them exceeding highly; and not only to 
esteem them exceeding highly, but to esteem 
them exceeding highly in love; and all of 
that for their work's sake, or because of the 
honor of their work, because of the respon¬ 
sibility and dignity of their position. Also 
men who possess the character and scrip¬ 
tural knowledge and spiritual attainments 
that elders are required to have are worthy 
of the esteem, respect, and love of all men. 
But it should be noticed that the elders are 
to be esteemed highly for their work's sake, 
or, as stated above, because of the honor of 
their office. Men respect the governor of a 
State or the judge of a court not because his 
character merits deference, but because of 
his position or office. In the light of the 
above scripture, what shall we say of those 
church members who speak disrespectfully 
and even disparagingly of the elders? Let 
us try the Lord's way a while, brethren. 

3. Imitate their faith. (Heb. 13: 7.) 
The elders are told to be examples for their 
flocks, and here the members are told to im- 


52 


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itate them. Paul often exhorted Christians 
to follow him, as he followed the Lord. Ev¬ 
ery religious teacher should teach by exam¬ 
ple as well as by precept. We learn to do 
things best by seeing others do them. Like 
the village preacher, the elders should not 
only allure to brighter worlds, but they 
should also lead the way; and the congrega¬ 
tion should be content to follow. 

4. Submit to them. (Heb. 13: 17.) When 
a Christian becomes a member of a congre¬ 
gation, he then and thereby places himself 
under the oversight of the elders of that 
congregation. It is then his duty to submit 
to the elders. When they admonish him, he 
must hear them. If they find it necessary to 
reprove or even rebuke him, he must heed. 
If they give him work to do, he must do it, 
if he can. From the elders he should be will¬ 
ing to receive counsel, encouragement, and 
help. And this they will, if they are the 
Lord’s kind, be ready and anxious to give. 
Sometimes a man comes into a congregation 
and begins at once to try to change the meth¬ 
ods and manners of a congregation, to force 
the elders to submit to him, and to make the 
whole church over to suit himself. In some 
cases the change might be an improvement, 
but it is assuming too much authority for a 
man to undertake such a task uninvited and 
before the people know whether he is either 
capable or worthy of the task. All members 


The Model Church. 


53 


of the congregations, whether they are new 
or old, must submit to the elders. 

5. Obey the elders. (Heb. 13: 17.) It 
would be impossible for the elders to rule 
over the church if the members would not 
submit to them and obey their ruling. The 
eldership would be mere mockery unless 
their authority is regarded. This is the rea¬ 
son many congregations do not have elders 
to-day—not because they do not have men 
who could do the work, but because they 
have members who love to have the preemi¬ 
nence and who do not have the requisites for 
membership in a Christian congregation. 
It is very convenient for such individuals to 
discourage any desire to appoint elders with 
the suggestion that there is not a man in the 
congregation who is qualified. Not infre¬ 
quently they ignore the elders and dispose 
of them with a contemptuous “they-are-not- 
fit-for-elders” remark. If the elders allow 
such as that, they are truly “not fit.” The 
congregation must obey its elders in all that 
God teaches, or ask them to retire. If the 
elders do something that any member con¬ 
siders wrong, he should speak to the elders 
about it and ask for an explanation. Possi¬ 
bly they can make it clear to him, or it might 
be that they would see that they did make a 
mistake. No man is, and no set of men are, 
past making mistakes. All scriptural elders 
know that they are not infallible, and they 


54 


The Model Church. 


welcome corrections and advice and infor¬ 
mation. If any decision of the elders is 
found to be wrong or injudicious, they will 
correct it. If they do not, they , and not the 
members, are rebellious. If a man should 
find it impossible conscientiously to obey any 
ruling of the elders, there is but one course 
for him to pursue: withdraw his member¬ 
ship from the congregation. This will never 
be necessary unless either the member or the 
elders are obstinate and desire to exalt an 
opinion or whim of their own above the word 
of God and the good of the church; for if it 
is a matter of fidelity to God, it would be an 
easy matter to turn to the New Testament 
and determine what is right or wrong. Peo¬ 
ple who will not obey the elders rebel against 
the will and authority of God and cannot ex¬ 
pect his approval or blessings. God plainly 
says: “Obey them that have the rule over 
you.” 

6. Count them worthy of double honor . 
We have already learned from Peter's lan¬ 
guage, forbidding an elder to do his work 
for the sake of lucre or money, that the eld¬ 
ers in the New Testament church were paid 
by the congregation for their work. That 
fact is brought out still clearer by Paul in 
this passage (1 Tim. 5: 17) : “Let the elders 
that rule well be counted worthy of double 
honor.” The word which is translated 
“honor” is “times;” and, according to the 


The Model Church. 


55 


lexicons, it means “salary,” “stipend,” “re¬ 
ward,” “wages.” The elders, therefore, re¬ 
ceived wages from the congregation, and 
those who ruled well were to have a double 
portion, especially those who labor in preach¬ 
ing and teaching. Where are those brethren 
who used to oppose paying a preacher? 
Where are those who said it was wrong to 
give the preacher a stipend or stipulated 
amount? Did they never read or study this 
scripture? But some one may object that it 
is the elders that are here spoken of. Ex¬ 
actly; but the passage speaks especially of 
those who labor in preaching (logos) and 
teaching. 

If we had any doubt about the meaning of 
the word “honor,” the rest of the passage 
would show its meaning. 

“Let the elders that rule well be counted 
worthy of double honor, especially those who 
labor in word and in teaching. For the 
scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox 
when he treadeth out the corn. And, The 
laborer is worthy of his hire.” There can be 
no question as to whether the elders were 
supported by their flock in Paul's time; that 
is clear; but the question is, whether the 
churches should now support in a financial 
way the elders that rule over them. Why 
not? Is not this passage meant for us as 
much as any other part of the letter? Of 
course no man should do the work for a 


56 


The Model Church. 


money consideration; and where a congrega¬ 
tion is not able to thus reward its bishops, of 
course no faithful man would on that account 
refuse to do the work. Or if any faithful 
elder—or preacher, either—wishes to sup¬ 
port himself and not be burdensome to the 
church, he has a fine example to follow. 
That was Paul's course, as we all know. He 
reminded the Ephesian elders of his course 
and told them to do likewise. (Acts 20: 35.) 

Where the church is not so large but that 
the elders can meet all its demands—do their 
whole duty—and at the same time work for 
their support, there is no need for the church 
to support them; but in the towns and cities 
where the congregation is large and of a cos¬ 
mopolitan membership, many weak mem¬ 
bers, a number of babes in Christ, and 
these completely surrounded by multifarious 
temptations and every influence but Chris¬ 
tian, somebody must tend that flock; and 
whoever does it will have need to be every¬ 
where at once and to be somewhere all the 
time. And yet he must have time for study, 
meditation, and prayer. If he looks after 
the sick, the dying, the destitute, the funer¬ 
als, etc., and then prepares to teach (feed) 
the flock when it assembles for worship, 
what time will he have to watch concerning 
their souls, to get personally acquainted with 
his members and know their wants and 
needs? What man can make a living for 


The Model Church. 


57 


himself and family and then do all this work 
for the church ? Either task will keep a man 
busy night and day in our times. Every 
city church of any size ought to support at 
least two or three pastors (elders), if it can¬ 
not support all its elders, while they do their 
work; for they will all be kept busy if they 
do the work the Bible requires and the ex¬ 
igency demands. 

Those brethren who oppose a “pastor” 
should begin to teach the churches the neces¬ 
sity of supporting their elders so they can 
do the work. This work must be done, breth¬ 
ren ; and if a church does not have men who 
are competent to do the work, by all means 
let them import a man or men according to 
their needs and ability to take care of them; 
and if these do their work well, let them be 
counted worthy of double honor, or stipend. 
0, how we need shepherds! Our flocks are 
scattered, our sheep have all gone astray. 
For the sake of the cause we love, brethren, 
stop arguing and go to work for Christ. 

Brethren sometimes say that if a disciple 
is not strong enough to stand alone or will 
not do his Christian duty without being 
urged, coaxed, invited, etc., he is no account, 
anyway. God’s whole arrangement contra¬ 
dicts this. He has ordained that certain men 
be set apart and supported by the church to 
tend the flock, to feed his lambs, to watch in 
behalf of the souls of his children. Let the 


58 


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reader get his New Testament and read care¬ 
fully the fifth chapter of First Thessalonians 
from the twelfth verse to the close. In verse 
12 Paul says: “But we beseech you, breth¬ 
ren, to know them that labor among you, 
and are over you in the Lord, and admonish 
you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in 
love for their work’s sake. Be at peace 
among yourselves.” Now he adds a post¬ 
script to the elders: “And we exhort you, 
brethren.” First he beseeches the brethren 
to esteem the elders, and then he exhorts the 
elders to encourage the faint-hearted, etc. 
“We beseech you, brethren,” to esteem the 
elders; “and we exhort you , brethren,” you 
elders, to “admonish the disorderly, encour¬ 
age the faint-hearted, support the weak, be 
long-suffering toward all.” So God recog¬ 
nized the fact that there would be weak, 
faint-hearted, faltering, and even disorderly 
Christians, and he has arranged that these 
be cared for. It is the duty of every child 
of God to do all he can in caring for the lit¬ 
tle ones in the kingdom of heaven, “even 
these least;” but the work demands that 
men competent and qualified be enabled to 
give their whole time to this work. All 
around us people are perishing who never 
heard the gospel, and the churches that 
should be centers of power, cities set on a hill, 
radiating the light of the gospel into the 
darkest corners of the earth, are wrangling, 


The Model Church. 


59 


slavering, driveling, debating, deteriorating, 
dying, and going to the devil; and all for the 
want of food—real spiritual food —not the 
husks of hobbyistic harangues or “sect- 
skinning” sermons from legalistic laggards 
in the religion of Christ. To all elders let us 
say, with Paul: “Take heed unto yourselves, 
and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit 
hath made you bishops, to feed the church 
of the Lord which he purchased with his 
own blood.” (Acts 20: 28.) To every 
preacher may we say, with Paul, again: 
“Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching . 
Continue in these things; for in doing this 
thou shalt save both thyself and them that 
hear thee.” (1 Tim. 4: 16.) To all con¬ 
gregations say: “We beseech you, brethren, 
to know them that labor among you, and are 
over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 
and to esteem them exceeding highly in love 
for their work's sake. And: “Remember them 
that had the rule over you [viz., Paul, Peter, 
Stephen, James, John], men that spake 
unto you the word of God; and considering 
the issue of their life, imitate their faith.” 
(Heb. 13: 7.) And: “The things which ye 
both learned and received and heard and 
saw in me [them], these things do.” (Phil. 
4:9.) And by all means “let us therefore 
cast off the works of darkness, and let us put 
on the armor of light.” (Rom. 13: 12.) 


60 


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Questions for Discussion. 

1. How should the elders be regarded by the 

members of their flock? 

2. Why should they be esteemed and loved? 

3. Should the members follow the example of 

the elders? 

4. In what way should Christians submit to the 

elders ? 

5. Is a man who will not submit to the elders 

guilty of disobedience to God ? 

6. How far should the members obey the elders ? 

7. Is a member allowed to rebel against the de¬ 

cision of the elders simply because he 
wants to have his own way? If he does, 
of what is he guilty? 

8. If a man believes the elders to be in the 

wrong on any matter, what should he do? 

9. How will the faithful elders receive and treat 

such a man? 

10. If a man charges that the elders have done 

wrong, how should the other members 
treat his charges? Read carefully 1 Tim. 
5: 19. Remember this when you hear 
the elders spoken against? 

11. What does it mean to count the elders wor¬ 

thy of double honor? 

12. How much of the elders' time will it require 

to care for the church properly. 

13. How can we find men who are able to spare 

so much time from their personal affairs ? 


The Model Church. 


61 


14. What proof can you offer that the churches 

of the New Testament supported or paid 
their elders? 

15. Is it right to support them now? 

16. Is there not as great demand on their time 

now as in the first century? 

17. Is the work any less important? 

18. What is the greatest need of the churches 

with which you are acquainted? 


CHAPTER V. 


How Elders Are Made. 


It has been said that “poets are born, not 
made.” This is also true in some sense of eld¬ 
ers. There is no doubt that some of the qualifi¬ 
cations required in an elder are attained by him 
or developed in his character, and a lack of these 
would unfit him for the work; and sometimes cir¬ 
cumstances of a man’s life might render him in¬ 
eligible for the office or work of an elder. If a 
man is unable to control his family and his chil¬ 
dren are known to be guilty of misconduct, to be 
riotous and unruly, or if his wife is a busybody, 
a tattler, etc., he is not suitable for an elder, al¬ 
though he may not be at all responsible for the 
wrongdoing of his family. This may seem upon 
first thought to be unjust, but upon more mature 
,study it will be seen to be both just and wise. 
Such a wife and such children, especially when 
they are considered members of the church, are 
certain to have difficulties with other members of 
the church, and the husband and father might 
not be able impartially to decide between them; 
or if he is, he is liable to be accused of partiality. 
In the civil courts he would be disqualified as a 
juror. 

But, in addition to these attained qualifications, 




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63 


the elder should have certain natural qualifica¬ 
tions; hence in that sense he is born, not made. 
He should at least have good sense. A man who 
is not normal either physically or mentally would 
hardly be suitable for an elder. We know human 
nature by knowing our own nature; and if we are 
not an average normal human being, we cannot 
know the feelings, weaknesses, and temptations 
of others. 

Some men have by nature what others have by 
culture and attainment. Some men are kind, gen¬ 
tle, and meek by nature; others have to develop 
these beautiful graces in their characters; but, 
whether natural or attained, an elder must pos¬ 
sess these. Whatever else is necessary to make 
a man an elder of a church, it is certain that he 
must have developed or inherited, or both devel¬ 
oped and inherited, the characteristics required 
by the New Testament. And these should not 
have come to him in a purposeless and accidental 
way. He should have been training himself for 
the work of an elder. Every congregation, and 
especially its elders, should always be developing 
and training men with a view to making them 
elders, at least preparing them for the eldership, 
so that whenever there is a need for them, either 
in the church that trained them or some other 
that they may chance to be members of, they will 
be ready. We need men who are trained for serv¬ 
ice in all lines of Christian endeavor, and there is 
no greater responsibility or nobler work than 


64 


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that which is placed in the hands of the elders of 
a church of Christ. 

Let us say, then, that the first essential in the 
making of an elder is: 

I. Training. Paul says that “if a man desires 
the office of a bishop, he desires a good work.” 
In this sentence the word “desires” is used twice, 
but it is from different Greek words. The first 
word is oregetai, which means “to reach out 
after,” “to stretch forward to,” “to give oneself 
up to the love of,” etc. The second word is 
epithumei, which means “to wish for,” “crave,” 
or “long for,” etc. Either word expresses strong 
desire, but the first signifies aspiration to obtain, 
efforts to reach, etc. The sentence might be par¬ 
aphrased thus: “If a man seeks the office of a 
bishop and gives himself up to the preparation 
for it, he is desiring an honorable work.” How 
else would a man stretch forward to the office of 
a bishop except by preparing for it? How else 
would he seek it? We could not suppose that he 
would canvass the congregation and work polit¬ 
ical schemes in order to influence the members to 
elect him. He could only aspire to the office by 
aspiring to possess the qualifications, to be able 
to do the work, and to merit the respect and es¬ 
teem of a congregation that would be willing to 
submit to him. 

He would acquire the qualifications only by ex¬ 
perience in the Christian life, by growing in the 
graces of religion, and by the practice of self- 
denial and self-control. He would gain the abil- 


The Model Church. 


65 


ity to do the work by doing it. All the work that 
is done by the elders may be and should be done 
by all Christians, except that of ruling and over¬ 
seeing the whole congregation, which can be done 
only when the church appoints them to do it and 
thereby agrees to submit to them. So the man 
who seeks the work of a bishop will learn to teach 
by teaching; he will learn to admonish the erring 
by practice. There are always people who need 
admonition and encouragement, and we are all 
our brother’s keeper. This is another reason why 
a novice should not be appointed. Paul states 
one—namely, lest he become “puffed up.” But 
the man who has had the widest experience in 
Christian service is best fitted for the duties of an 
elder if he is otherwise qualified. A man who is 
rich in experience in the ordinary duties of a 
Christian will be able to perform the work of an 
elder. In all walks of life the man who most dil¬ 
igently meets the obligations that fall upon him 
and discharges whatever duties are incumbent is 
best prepared for promotion—for greater respon¬ 
sibilities and higher duties. So also the man who 
most faithfully lives the Christian life is best pre¬ 
pared to help others. 

It is sometimes stated that when a man does the 
work of an elder he is then an elder and needs no 
appointing ceremony to make him an elder. In 
one sense this may be true; but it is not a sys¬ 
tematic, a satisfactory, or a scriptural way of 
becoming an elder. If by doing the work a man 
does not excite jealousies or bring down upon 
5 


66 


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himself the charge of wanting to “run” things, 
and if the congregation tacitly agrees to submit 
to him and to be ruled by him, then he is, indeed, 
an elder. But how often would such a condition 
exist? Even if that condition should prevail, 
in ordinary circumstances the man's authority 
would certainly be questioned if he undertook to 
discipline the disorderly members. For that rea¬ 
son that manner of becoming an elder is not sat¬ 
isfactory. The following considerations would 
lead us to believe it is not the scriptural way: 

1. In the New Testament the elders were ap¬ 
pointed. (Acts 14: 23; Tit. 1:5.) They did not 
merely assume the position. It would not have 
been at all necessary to leave Titus in Crete to 
appoint elders if no appointing ceremony is nec¬ 
essary. 

2. The Holy Spirit has given minute instruc¬ 
tions as to what kind of men should be appointed 
to the eldership. This was all unnecessary if any 
man who does the work of an elder is thereby 
constituted an elder. The Holy Spirit would no 
doubt have given only the duties of elders and said 
nothing about their qualifications if that conten¬ 
tion were correct. If a novice—new convert— 
begins at once faithfully to do the work of an 
elder, is he then an elder? If so, the precaution 
against appointing a novice was useless. If a 
man who does not rule well his own house does 
the work which the Scriptures specify as the work 
of an elder, is he, therefore, an elder? Why, 
then, was that required as one of the qualifica- 


The Model Church. 


67 


tions of an elder? In fact, it seems that the con¬ 
tention that the eldership is not an office among 
Christians which a man can enter and hold only 
by the consent and appointment of those whom he 
rules, makes useless and even absurd the instruc¬ 
tions concerning the character of men who should 
be made elders. If a woman should do the work 
assigned to the elders, would she be an elder? 
Or if all the men of a congregation should do 
the work of the elders, would they all be elders? 
This condition could not exist, it matters not how 
faithfully all the men serve the Lord, because 
there are certain duties that belong to an elder 
that a man cannot do unless he is authorized by 
the congregation to do them. He could not rule 
the church unless the church agrees to submit to 
him and to recognize him as an overseer. We 
conclude, therefore, that after a man has devel¬ 
oped or acquired the qualities of character re¬ 
quired in an elder, which has been set down as the 
first step necessary in becoming an elder, he must 
be— 

II. Appointed or Set Apart. It is believed that 
what has been said is sufficient to prove that some 
form of appointment is necessary; but there is no 
scarcity of proof on this point, and we shall offer 
a little further evidence. If all men who assume 
the responsibilities and do the work of elders are 
by that made elders, Paul would have left Titus 
in Crete to build up the church and instruct all 
the members to do the work instead of instruct¬ 
ing him to appoint elders to do certain duties. 


68 


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Paul addressed the Philippian Epistle “to all the 
saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with 
the bishops and deacons.” (Phil. 1: 1.) Of 
course the bishops and deacons were included in 
“all the saints,” but they are mentioned as special 
individuals among the saints. They were unques¬ 
tionably persons set apart or appointed to a spe¬ 
cial work—that of overseeing the flock, as we 
know from other scriptures. Again, Paul be¬ 
seeches the Thessalonian church highly to esteem 
those who were over them in the Lord. How 
could some men be over the church if they were 
all privileged to be over it? What would they be 
over if none of them are subject to certain ones? 
It would be impossible for the church to obey 
those who are over it without an understanding 
as to who they are, and no man is over the church 
unless the church submits to him. He must, 
therefore, be placed over the church by some au¬ 
thority. * Two questions naturally present them¬ 
selves here: (1) Who can or should do this ap¬ 
pointing? (2) How is the appointing done, and 
by what ceremony? 

In answering these qestions we shall take the 
liberty to quote from others who are more able to 
speak on this subject. After arguing ably and at 
length to prove that the ordination ceremony con¬ 
sisted in fasting, prayer, and the laying on of 
hands, Alexander Campbell gives the following di¬ 
rections for appointing elders and deacons: 

“1. The congregation, after having proved the 
abilities and capacities to teach and rule found in 


The Model Church. 


69 


its own members, and, above all, tested their 
character as approved by those within and with¬ 
out the congregation, appoints a day for the 
proper election of its officers. 

“2. Having agreed upon those eligible, possess¬ 
ing, in an acceptable measure, the qualifications 
commanded by the apostles, a day is appointed 
for their solemn consecration to the Lord. 

“3. The day arrives. The church assemble 
with fasting and proceed to select members to 
impose hands on the officers-elect in behalf of the 
congregation. The persons thus chosen then pro¬ 
ceed to impose their hands on the heads of those 
elected, while all unite in prayer to God that those 
brethren chosen by them, and now devoted to the 
Lord as their bishops and deacons, may, feeling 
their responsibilities, with all diligence and fidel¬ 
ity to the Lord, and with all humility of mind 
and affectionate concern for the brotherhood, ex¬ 
ercise the office with which they are hereby in¬ 
vested in the name of the Lord, according to the 
true intent and meaning of the Christian institu¬ 
tion, as they shall account to the Lord at his glo¬ 
rious appearing and kingdom. The whole con¬ 
gregation then, lifting up their voice, say, 
'Amen* yy 

It will be observed that Mr. Campbell was giv¬ 
ing directions for a congregation that was being 
organized for the first time; hence it was neces¬ 
sary to select certain members of the congrega¬ 
tion to impose hands on those who were being 
ordained as bishops or deacons. If the congre- 


70 


The Model Church. 


gation already had ordained officers, but needed 
others either to fill a vacancy or because their 
number was not sufficient to administer the af¬ 
fairs of the congregation, their ordained officers 
would impose their hands on the newly elected 
officers. On this point Mr. Campbell says: 

“It will be remembered that we are writing in 
reference to a new church—to a congregation 
coming into the apostolic order; for after being 
once set in order, it will be unnecessary to select 
persons to ordain, or to introduce other seniors 
into a participation of the oversight or ministry 
of the community. Those already ordained will, 
for the brotherhood, always act in such matters. 
They are the standing presbytery or senate of the 
congregation.” (This quotation from Mr. Camp¬ 
bell will be found in the 1835 volume of the Mil¬ 
lennial Harbinger; or his whole essay on this sub¬ 
ject can be found in Dr. Brents' “Gospel Ser¬ 
mons," Chapter XX.) 

It will be observed that in the directions given 
by Mr. Campbell there is, first, an election, and, 
second, an ordination. The whole congregation 
selects or elects the men whom they would have 
to be appointed as officers over them, and then at 
a convenient time the officers-elect are ordained 
or inaugurated by fasting, prayer, and the lay¬ 
ing on of hands. The whole congregation takes 
part in this ceremony also; but only the presby¬ 
tery, if they have one, selected members if they 
do not, lay hands on those being ordained or ap¬ 
pointed. 


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71 


This seems to be the scriptural order. In the 
church at Jerusalem the whole “multitude of the 
disciples,” at the command of the twelve apostles, 
appointed men to serve the church. Notice, there 
was first an election, then an ordination or ap¬ 
pointing. After the whole church had elected the 
seven, the record gives their names—the names of 
all those "whom they set before the apostle: and 
when they had prayed, they laid their hands upon 
them.” (Acts 6: 6.) It certainly seems proper 
that the whole church should select their over¬ 
seers; for the Lord strictly requires that the 
church submit to the elders and obey them, and 
no earthly authority can put a man over the 
church who is objectionable to the church. Alex¬ 
ander Campbell argues that only members of the 
congregation should lay hands upon those already 
elected by the congregation; that visiting preach¬ 
ers or visiting elders from other congregations 
are not the ones to do either the electing or the 
appointing. 

But how can the will of the entire congregation 
be ascertained? The whole transaction should be 
participated in by the whole congregation—if in 
no other way, by the sanction of presence. If 
any one in the congregation has any reasonable 
or scriptural objection to anything that is being 
done, he should be allowed to state the objection, 
with reasons for it; and it should be considered 
fully, fairly, and in the spirit of Christ. If it can 
be explained to the satisfaction of the objector, 
well and good. If he cannot be satisfied, but if all 


72 


The Model Church. 


the rest of the congregation are satisfied that the 
objection is not sustained by the Scriptures, but 
that the brother is in error either honestly or will¬ 
fully, there seems to be no other choice but to 
proceed with the organization. The brother 
should be admonished in all meekness and love to 
abandon the objection. 

Brother Campbell said the congregation should 
express its wish by a vote. Many people object to 
voting in the church, and there can be little doubt 
that the ordinary business matters of the con¬ 
gregation should not be submitted to a vote. That 
is why we must have elders. There were objec¬ 
tors to voting in Campbell's day, and in the essay 
from which the above quotation is taken he treats 
the objections in his usual vigorous and masterly 
style. He begins his argument with this sen¬ 
tence: “Some Christians are opposed to voting in 
the church. They only vote against voting." 

A number of persons together cannot agree on 
anything or could not know when they are agreed, 
unless they expressed their minds or wish in some 
way. Voting in an orderly and systematic way 
in organizing a congregation, which would then 
prevent further voting on every minor question, 
is far better than letting the church remain un¬ 
organized and the work undone, while the mem¬ 
bers wrangle, dispute, and contend about the 
“whys,” the “whats,” and the “whos” of the 
church. In every unorganized congregation ev¬ 
ery little question must be decided and settled by 
the whole body, because they have no officers to 


The Model Church. 


73 


administer their affairs. Either all questions 
must be submitted to the whole body, or else some 
self-appointed man or men must assume arbi¬ 
trarily to manage the business of the church; and 
men who assume such authority are usually un¬ 
suitable for the place and objectionable to a large 
number of the members. But if the congrega¬ 
tion does not submit to them, there will always be 
strife. God’s way is best. Let us sacrifice our 
opinions and be governed by his word. 

We have cited one New Testament example to 
show the directions Brother Campbell gave are 
scriptural, and we might say that all the cases of 
ordination in the New Testament are the same. 
On this point allow this quotation from Conybeare 
and Howson: 

“In all cases, so far as we may infer from the 
recorded instances in the Acts, those who were se¬ 
lected for the performance of church officers were 
solemnly set apart for the duties to which they 
devoted themselves. This ordination they always 
received, whether the office to which they were 
called was permanent or temporary. The church, 
of which they were members, devoted a prepara¬ 
tory season to ‘fasting and prayer;’ and then 
those who were to be set apart were consecrated 
to their work by that solemn and touching sym¬ 
bolical act, the laying on of hands, which has been 
ever since appropriated to the same purpose and 
meaning. And thus, in answer to the faith and 
prayers of the church, the spiritual gifts neces¬ 
sary for the performance of the office were be- 


74 


The Model Church. 


stowed by Him who is the ‘Lord and Giver of 
life/ ” (“Life and Epistles of Paul/' Volume II., 
page 437.) 

Those who object to laying on hands say that 
it was done for the purpose of conferring some 
spiritual gift. In reply to this it is usually ar¬ 
gued that none but the apostles could confer spir¬ 
itual gifts by the imposing of hands, and we know 
that others than the apostles laid their hands on 
those being ordained or set apart for service. 
(Acts 13: 1-6.) In the Old Testament they prac¬ 
ticed the laying on of hands as a ceremony of 
consecration, and not for the purpose of confer¬ 
ring a gift. The children of Israel laid their 
hands upon the Levites to consecrate them to the 
priesthood, and we could hardly suppose that it 
would be contended that the children of Israel 
could confer the Holy Spirit. (Num. 8: 9, 10.) 
Luke does not give any account of the institution 
of the eldership, as he does of the diaconate, per¬ 
haps because this same office was a well-known 
feature of the Jewish synagogue. The syna¬ 
gogue naturally served as a model in the organ¬ 
ization of churches. On this point Brother David 
Lipscomb says: 

“So God set Moses and the elders the judges to 
decide the difficulties that would rise among the 
Jewish people. These elders in the different 
tribes, families, and cities continued to adjudge 
the difficulties and settle differences until the days 
of Jesus Christ. This order of elders, with their 
duties, was by Jesus and the Holy Spirit trans- 


The Model Church. 


75 


ferred to the churches of God, and the same du¬ 
ties seem to have followed them.” (“Queries and 
Answers," page 142.) 

We may well suppose that the Old Testament 
manner of ordination followed them also. If any 
reader is inclined to think that there is no ap¬ 
pointing or ordination ceremony needed now, he 
should ask himself by what consistency could we 
retain an officer and yet eliminate the office; and 
if we retain both officer and the office, how can we 
eliminate that which is essential to induct him 
into the office? How can a man be placed in any 
office without some form of election, initiation, 
inauguration, consecration, or ordination? 

While the plan suggested by Brother Campbell 
is held to be scriptural and we recommend it, it 
must be understood that it is not the purpose of 
these lessons to contend for any plan or theory. 
The Lord's work must be done if we desire to 
please him and to receive his blessings, and all 
Christians, of course, want to follow the New 
Testament order in both work and worship; but 
where there is a difference of opinion as to why a 
certain thing was done, it would be poor judg¬ 
ment to let that difference interfere with the 
work. We must not neglect to appoint elders in 
some way—some way satisfactory to the congre¬ 
gation to be allotted to them. Never mind 
whether it is satisfactory to all the editors and 
preachers in the brotherhood or not. They differ; 
and we cannot, therefore, follow all of them. 
Let us earnestly and prayerfully try to learn for 


76 


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ourselves what God teaches and follow that. Do 
not let the things said herein stir up a contro¬ 
versy, but rather let them provoke you to love 
and good works. 

The author of this book believes that the ap¬ 
pointing should be done as indicated in the pre¬ 
ceding paragraphs, but he does not contend that 
it cannot be done acceptably in any other way. 
So far as he has been able to see, that is the 
method used in all the cases that are reported in 
the New Testament; but there are some good 
brethren who contend that hands were imposed 
in those cases to confer the Holy Spirit, and out 
of deference to that view it is thought best to 
leave the manner of appointing optional with the 
congregations. The author has, however, clearly 
shown his views in the matter, and he has done so 
intentionally; but he is willing to concede that it 
is a debatable question, and he does not, therefore, 
dogmatically contend that no way is acceptable 
which does not include the laying on of hands. 
He does contend, however, that the practice of 
most of our congregations of the present time is 
wrong. The result of such practice is all the 
proof that needs to be cited. The appointing is 
done without any sort of solemnity or ceremony, 
and it is most frequently done without the ac¬ 
quiescence of the congregation. Somebody non¬ 
chalantly announces that Brother-will, after 

two weeks, be an elder of the congregation if no 
one objects. Those members who happen to hear 
the announcement pay about as much heed to it 



The Model Church. 


77 


as they do to the announcement of a midweek 
prayer meeting. The two weeks expire; and no 

objection having been offered, Brother-is an 

elder! 

That is one way that is in use to-day. Other 
congregations wait till some preacher comes along 
and appoints elders all on his own authority; or if 
he gets suggestions, they come from some few 
members who may have personal reasons for their 
choice. 

Either method is sadly, shamefully, and mani¬ 
festly wrong; and the results of either process 
when not entirely negligible are disastrous. This 
is a serious matter, and it should be seriously at¬ 
tended to. 

If a congregation about to appoint elders or 
deacons cannot agree to follow the New Testa¬ 
ment custom and lay hands on them, thinking 
that it was done in those cases to confer a gift, 
let them at least not dispense with all solemnities 
and ceremonies. Let the whole church acquiesce 
in the formalities in some way, so that it can be 
truthfully said that the elders thus made are over 
them in the Lord. Let them submit to the elders. 
Appointing elders is a very important and far- 
reaching step. It is full of possibilities, both of 
good and of evil. Such a step should always be 
attended by fasting and prayer. Why eliminate 
the fasting and prayer even if we do refuse to lay 
on hands? Do we not need it as much as the 
apostles and other inspired and Spirit-guided men 
of the New Testament did? Some of our present- 



78 


The Model Church. 


day congregations never did anything in the his¬ 
tory of their work that they regarded as solemn 
and serious enough to fast and pray over. It is 
small wonder that there are factions and strife 
among them. Let us return to the New Testa¬ 
ment pattern, brethren, and have qualified men 
selected by the congregation and duly appointed 
to the eldership; let the elders rule well, and let 
the church submit to them and obey them, '‘es¬ 
teem them exceeding highly in love for their 
work's sake." That would mean a new day in the 
history of the church in our country. God speed 
the day! 

For the aid of those who may wish to appoint 
elders without the laying on of hands the follow¬ 
ing program is suggested. It will make the act 
solemn and impressive, and it will also be the act 
of the whole church. It is given, however, simply 
as a suggestion, and it may be modified by those 
who lead in the service as they may think proper. 

The Ordination of Elders. 

Program. 

Those who are to be appointed having previously been 
selected by the congregation for their overseers, the whole 
church assembles to ordain or appoint them, to inaugurate 
them; or if these terms are not pleasing to the feelings of 
all, let us say that they have come together publicly to ac¬ 
knowledge their elders. The meeting has been repeatedly 
and thoroughly announced, and every member has been 
urged to be present. When the whole church has assembled 
with solemn purpose and the elders-elect have taken the 
front seat, the following order may be observed: 

1. Hymn. 

2. Scripture reading. (1 Tim. 3: 1-7; Tit. 1: 5-9; 1 
Pet. 5: 1-4.) 


The Model Church. 


79 


3. Prayer. 

4. Hymn. 

5. Sermon or talk on eldership. 

6. The evangelist, or the leader, asks the elders-elect to 
stand and face the audience; and when they have done 
this, he says: “These are the men, brothers and sisters, 
that you have elected to serve this church as overseers; 
and now, to assure these men that you have chosen them 
for that office, and to actively express your approval of 
the steps now being taken, I shall ask you to answer this 

question: Do you, as members of the - church of 

Christ, now publicly acknowledge that you have chosen 
these brethren to be your overseers, and do you now agree 
to submit to them and to obey them in all things that God 
has commanded them as bishops of the church to require 
of you? If this be the sense of the congregation, you 
will please signify it by standing.” (Let the whole au¬ 
dience stand.) When the people have resumed their seats, 
the leader turns to the elders-elect, who are still standing, 
and asks: “Do you, John Loyal and James Faithful and 
Philip Worthy and Cephas Humble [the leader will call 
their real names], who have been so highly honored by the 
people of God as to be chosen to lead them and to direct 
their affairs, now accept this charge, and do you solemnly 
pledge yourselves to this church in the sight of God, to 
whom you shall account for every member of this body, to 
learn and to perform the duties of your office to the best 
of your understanding and ability?” Each one shall an¬ 
swer for himself: “I do.” Then shall the leader say: 
“This, then, brethren, seals the covenant. You and the 
other members of this church have entered into a solemn 
agreement. They have honored you by placing you in 
the most exalted, because the most responsible, position 
in the whole church of God. You are now their bishops, 
and they have placed themselves under your oversight. 
You have promised to lead them, to feed them, and to 
watch concerning their souls. In order to perform these 
duties faithfully, you will have need of the help that comes 
from God; therefore let us now invoke his blessings on 
what we have here done.” 

7. Prayer. 

8. Hymn. 

9. Benediction. 

10. Congratulations and general handshaking. 



80 


The Model Church. 


Questions for Discussion. 

1. What is the first step necessary in making an 

elder ? 

2. Name some of the qualifications that an elder 

must have by birth. Name some that he 
may have by birth. 

3. How can a man who desires to be an elder ac¬ 

quire the ability to do the work? 

4. If a man assumes the position of an elder, is 

he, therefore, an elder? 

5. If some member of the congregation should 

deny that such a man was an elder and 
refuse to submit to him, could there be any 
action taken against him, or against the 
members ? 

6. What is the second step necessary in becom¬ 

ing an elder? 

7. Give, in full, the steps Brother Campbell said 

should be taken in appointing elders and 
deacons. 

8. What do some people think the laying on of 

hands was for? 

9. Could you find some place in the Bible where 

they imposed hands as a ceremony and not 
to confer the Spirit? 

10. If we eliminate fasting, prayer, and the lay¬ 

ing on of hands from our appointing cer¬ 
emony, in what would the appointing con¬ 
sist? 

11. Granting that there is no need to lay on 

hands, is there any reason why we should 
eliminate the fasting and prayer? 


The Model Church. 


81 


12. Did your congregation or the leaders of your 

congregation, as a body, ever fast and 
pray over anything? 

13. Who should elect the elders? 

14. Who should appoint them? 

15. Does your congregation have elders? 

16. If so, how were they appointed? 

17. Is the congregation in submission to them? 

18. If not, would it not be best for the congrega¬ 

tion to all together solemnly agree to sub¬ 
mit to them and obey them and by that 
place them “over you in the Lord?” 

19. If that is not scriptural, what is? 

20. Should personal animus lead any one to en¬ 

deavor to find fault with the elders and 
pronounce them unfit? 

21. Should personal preference or favoritism 

cause any one to suggest or nominate a 
man for the eldership? 

22. To avoid this, would it not be best that mak¬ 

ing elders be done with fasting and prayer ? 

23. Is fasting and prayer ever wrong except 

when it is done to be seen of men ? 

24. If we feel at liberty to leave off the fasting, 

can we afford to omit the prayers ? 

25. The whole future welfare, the growth and 

prosperity, and the final salvation of the 
congregation depend, to a great extent, 
upon the kind of men who are placed as 
elders over it. Should not every member, 
therefore, be interested? Should not the 
whole proceedings be seriously, earnestly, 
and prayerfully carried out? 


6 


CHAPTER VI. 


How Elders Are Unmade. 


Frequently this question is asked: “If a man is 
once an elder, is he not always an elder?” It 
seems strange that such a question would be asked, 
but we hear it often. It is just another evidence 
of the lack of information on these questions that 
is seen everywhere. After we have learned the 
lessons on the nature of the office of a bishop and 
how it is entered, there will be no such difficulty 
as the above question implies. Some men have 
contended that if a man is once an elder he is al¬ 
ways an elder. One advocate of that view says 
that an “elder can no more resign his eldership 
than a mule can resign his muleship.” Now, it 
will have to be admitted that there is a striking 
resemblance between the present-day eldership in 
some places and the “muleship” of our well- 
known hybrid. And his chief characteristic is 
plainly displayed by an elder (?) who insists that 
if he was once an elder he is an elder forever; 
that he cannot resign; that he cannot be im¬ 
peached or recalled or any other way unmade. 

The men who hold that view contend also that 
the eldership is not an office. They oppose any 
appointing ceremony, and affirm that any man is 
an elder if he does the work of an elder. 0, some 
of them might say that he must possess the qual- 




The Model Church. 


83 


ifications; but any man who will assume the po¬ 
sition will also assume that he possesses the qual¬ 
ifications. He will stoutly contend that he has 
them all. And who shall tell him that he does not 
possess them? If no one has the right to tell a 
man when he is an elder, who shall tell him when 
he is not an elder? If the congregation has no 
right to set men of its choice over it, what right 
has it to deny that any man is its overseer if he 
assumes to be? The whole position is absurd. 

No man is an overseer of a congregation un¬ 
less he is elected and appointed by the congrega¬ 
tion to that office, and the same authority that 
puts men into that position can take them out if 
there is a reason that would justify such a serious 
step. When elders are made, they and the con¬ 
gregation enter into a solemn agreement, and 
this agreement should be sacredly regarded by 
both. No one should think of breaking the cov¬ 
enant or of undoing the arrangement without the 
best of reasons. If such reasons exist, they 
should be carefully and prayerfully weighed be¬ 
fore any action is taken. The Lord was asked to 
recognize and bless the action when the man was 
made an elder, and now the action must not be 
rescinded unless it is plain that the Lord is not 
pleased with the man’s conduct and would not rec¬ 
ognize him as worthy of so responsible a place 
in his church. Then the Lord can be invoked to 
bless the proceedings against the brother. The 
Lord made Saul king of Israel; but when Saul 
proved unsuitable for the place, the Lord reversed 


84 


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his act and deposed Saul. Therefore even if a 
man is appointed to the eldership by fasting, 
prayer, and the laying on of hands, there is no 
reason why he may not be deposed if the good of 
the church demands it. 

The following are some reasons that would jus¬ 
tify a congregation in retiring an elder and in 
placing another man in his position: 

1. If an elder fails to do the work of an elder, 
the work he was ordained to do, he should not be 
considered a bishop or treated as the New Testa¬ 
ment requires Christians to treat the bishops. 
But some formal action should be taken against 
him. It is no unusual thing to see members of a 
church refuse to respect and recognize the so- 
called “elders,” but those elders continue to be 
“bosses” and to claim authority. When an elder 
fails to do the work required of an elder, he must 
be impeached and some one else put into his of¬ 
fice who will care for the congregation. It mat¬ 
ters not what caused the failure, if it is a failure , 
the work must be done and somebody must be 
appointed for it. If the man has failed because 
of negligence and indifference, of course his 
would be a “dishonorable discharge.” He might 
fail through incompetency, but this would not oc¬ 
cur if proper care were used in appointing men; 
or a man might fail through ill health. In either 
of the two last-mentioned cases the man should be 
treated with all kindness, courtesy, and love; but 
some one must do the work which he cannot do. 
He ought to get out of the way voluntarily. 


The Model Church. 


85 


2. If an elder loses his qualifications, he should 
be recalled. Any man who believes in the possi¬ 
bility of apostasy will surely not deny that an 
elder can lose his qualifications. Many good men 
go astray. Preachers and elders are not exempt. 
A man who was once appointed to the eldership 
of a large congregation became guilty of atrocious 
sins, was indicted in the civil courts on capital 
crimes, fled the country, and is now a refugee 
from justice. Perhaps some gentle, consistent, 
and sweet-spirited hobbyist will insist that he is 
still an elder or overseer of the church of God and 
watches concerning the souls of the flock. 

When an elder loses his qualifications, the con¬ 
gregation should take formal action to depose him, 
whether he is criminal or not. He may just be 
worldly and unconcerned about the Lord's work. 

An elder may lose his qualifications through old 
age and a failure of physical and mental strength. 
Where that is true, the above directions do not 
apply. The aged brother must be allowed to re¬ 
tain all the honor, but some one else will have to 
do the work. Great care must be used in such a 
case. 

3. If an elder becomes unacceptable to a con¬ 
gregation, he should be retired if he will not vol¬ 
untarily resign. A man cannot be over people 
who will not be under him. When an elder finds 
that he is objectionable to the congregation, that 
they will not heed his instructions and will not 
take his advice, he should resign. Even if the 
aversion was caused by his loyalty to God’s word, 


86 


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he would as well resign; for he has lost his influ¬ 
ence with the people and he cannot check the 
error. It will never happen, however, that a 
whole church will turn against a man for such a 
cause unless his manner is at fault. When an 
elder is appointed, he is the choice of the congre¬ 
gation. He was elected by the members to be 
over them in the Lord. They put themselves un¬ 
der his watch care, and they promised to submit 
to him and to obey him in all that is right. They 
should, therefore, remain true to the agreement. 
If they do not, God will judge them. A true elder 
is the Lord's appointed; and if the members rebel 
against him, they are disobedient to God. Any 
action taken against an elder except for scriptural 
and righteous reasons is treason against Jeho¬ 
vah. Remember Miriam. (Num. 12: 9, 10.) 

But if an elder has become inflated with the 
honor conferred on him and desires to show his 
authority to the extent that he is arbitrary and 
domineering and demagogical, he should be im¬ 
peached. Let him remember Saul. (1 Sam. 15: 
17-23.) 

If an elder shows partiality in dealing with the 
members and after due admonition refuses to 
correct the fault, he will lose his influence and 
power over the members. 

If an elder lacks patience, loses his self-control, 
and becomes angry when dealing with the prob¬ 
lems of the brethren—if he does this habitually— 
he will not be loved and respected by his mem¬ 
bers, and he will eventually cease to be accepta- 


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ble to them, and he could not, therefore, do the 
work of a bishop. He should not, then, continue 
in the office of a bishop. 

If an elder does anything habitually that is not 
worthy of emulation or that could not be held up 
as an example before those young men in the con¬ 
gregation who aspire to the office of bishop, he 
should be asked to resign. Elders must “become 
ensamples to the flock.” (1 Pet. 5:3.) 

If for any reason an elder loses his influence 
with his people or becomes odious to them, he can 
no longer do for them what an elder is ordained 
to do, and the circumstances demand his resigna¬ 
tion. The congregation, of course, must be long- 
suffering and forbearing, and must overlook such 
faults and foibles as are common to men. 

If an elder is gentle and humble and shows a 
willingness to hear suggestions; if he frequently 
confesses his faults and asks for the prayers of 
his congregation, he need not fear that mere im¬ 
perfections will render him unacceptable to his 
people. 

It is the man who loves the preeminence, the 
self-important man, who excites contempt. The 
man who disregards the wishes of his people and 
insists upon his own way (he must have his 
preacher, his song book, his time for the meeting, 
etc.) is the man who becomes obnoxious. He 
ought to be retired. 

It must be remembered that all public men are 
criticized; and, therefore, the mere complaints of 
critics against an elder must not be countenanced. 


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They should not be allowed. The faithful Chris¬ 
tian should rebuke the critics every time unkind 
criticism is heard. All this, however, is thor¬ 
oughly covered in the scriptures that teach Chris¬ 
tians to esteem the elders highly in love. 

When formal action is to be taken against an 
elder, the whole congregation should come to¬ 
gether in solemn session. Every step should be 
taken with due deliberation and with fasting and 
prayer. No personal feeling should be allowed to 
enter into the transaction, and no accusation 
against the elder should be considered unless it 
comes through two or three persons, and those 
persons must not be in any sort of league. (1 
Tim. 5: 19.) Personal grievances should not be 
heard on such an occasion. They must come up at 
another time. If the accused elder confesses his 
shortcomings and manifests his desire to do bet¬ 
ter, he should be retained unless the offense is 
such that it would forever stain his reputation. 
In such a case he must, if he is penitent, be re¬ 
tained in the church, but not in the eldership. 
The spirit of Christ and brotherly love will be a 
guarantee against error in such proceedings. 
Any such action that is not controlled by such a 
spirit will be a miserable failure and will bring 
reproach upon the cause of Christ. In such a 
meeting the other elders—those not accused— 
will have charge and will conduct the deliber¬ 
ations. 

In a case where all the elders are unacceptable 
to the congregation, outside help must be invited. 


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Godly men from some other congregation and 
some faithful evangelist should be brought to the 
scene of trouble, and perhaps through their me¬ 
diation and prayers a reconciliation can be ef¬ 
fected. Think of the elders being in league 
against their flock and the flock up in arms 
against the elders! Could a more disgraceful 
thing be imagined? It has been known to occur 
in these wicked last days. Such things come, 
however, as a result of our unscriptural prac¬ 
tice—our loose, careless way of appointing elders. 
When the churches begin to fast and pray over 
that all-determining act, these things will not oc¬ 
cur. When they do occur, there is sin somewhere. 
It is either on the part of the elders or of the con¬ 
gregation, and most likely both. 

Why self-respecting men will insist that they 
are the overseers of a congregation when they 
know that the congregation is not under them, 
will not submit to them, and does not respect 
them, is beyond comprehension. It certainly 
needs psychological explication. 

But let us suppose that where the whole con¬ 
gregation is antagonistic to the elders it is be¬ 
cause the congregation wants to depart from the 
word of God and bring in some unscriptural 
practice and the elders will not allow it. If that 
be the trouble, then the elders are exactly right, 
and they are unquestionably doing what God or¬ 
dained them to do in keeping down such digres¬ 
sion. But they should be patient and gentle, and 
should manifest a spirit of earnestness in trying 


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to show the people the error. If they will make it 
clear that they are not opposing this movement 
simply to show their authority, but because it is 
wrong, they will convince some of the members. 
If they will show that it is their love for the word 
of God, and not pure “mulishness” on their part 
that causes them to stand against the innovation, 
they will save some of the members, perhaps a 
majority of them, and thus they will save the 
church and put down the wrong or force the 
wrongdoers to withdraw from the congregation. 
The elders must be sure that it is the word of 
God, and not their own word, not a partisan doc¬ 
trine or prejudicial whim, that they contend for. 
They should meet with the members and hear 
their complaints and their desires and discuss 
them fully; and if error is advocated, they should 
point it out in gentleness and love. That is their 
work. They should be able to teach the congre¬ 
gation what God has revealed on all questions. 
Where the elders just persist in directing the af¬ 
fairs without regard for the wishes of the con¬ 
gregation, ignoring their complaints and vetoing 
their suggestions, without giving reasons, they 
need not be surprised if the whole congregation 
quits or divides and forms another congregation 
and builds another house of worship. If such a 
thing happens under those conditions, the elders 

ARE AT FAULT. 

The cases that have been observed by us came 
as a result of such behavior on the part of the 
elders. They would not meet with the congrega- 


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tion and discuss the cause of trouble. They 
would not agree to call in disinterested brethren 
and lay the charges and counter charges before 
them. They would make no concessions what¬ 
ever, but assumed to rule with an iron hand. Yet 
the congregation was not in submission to them, 
was not willingly under them, did not respect 
them, and would not obey them. Consequently 
there was no peace, no harmony, no worship, no 
fellowship, no love, and no Christianity. 

Our greatest need is Christianity—just simple, 
primitive, New Testament Christianity. That 
would prove a panacea for all our ills. Let us 
try faithfully to follow Christ, “doing nothing 
through faction or through vainglory, but in low¬ 
liness of mind each counting other better than 
himself; not looking each of you to his own things, 
but each of you also to the things of others. 
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted 
not the being on an equality with God a thing to 
be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form 
of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled 
himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, 
the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2: 3-8.) “Let 
all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, 
and railing, be put away from you, with all mal¬ 
ice : and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, 
forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ 
forgave you.” (Eph. 4: 31, 32.) Paul, the 
apostle of Christ and the prisoner of the Lord, 


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even now beseeches “you to walk worthily of the 
calling wherewith ye were called, with all low¬ 
liness and meekness, with long-suffering, for¬ 
bearing one ANOTHER in love; giving diligence 
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
peace.” (Eph. 4: 1-4.) “If any man hath not 
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Rom. 
8: 9, 10.) 

Where these scriptures are observed, there will 
never be a “church fuss.” We must abandon our 
hobbies and return to God's word if we expect to 
be saved. 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. Can an elder resign his position? 

2. If he moves away from a church, is he still 

one of its elders, and does he have the over¬ 
sight of it? 

3. When he contemplates such a change, should 

he not publicly surrender his claim, show 
an interest in having some one take his 
work, and ask the congregation to release 
him? 

4. Can an elder ever be recalled, deposed, or re¬ 

tired ? 

5. If so, who has power to take such action? 

6. By virtue of what does an elder hold his posi¬ 

tion? 

7. If no one has power to remove an elder, who 

has power to make one ? 

8. If the congregation has no power to refuse to 

allow a man to control its affairs, why 


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could not any presumptuous egotist assume 
control? 

9. On what grounds would a church be justified 
in taking action against an elder? 

10. In what spirit should such steps be taken al¬ 

ways? 

11. If an elder is unacceptable to a congregation, 

can he do the work God teaches an elder 
to do? 

12. Can a man be over a congregation that will 

not be under him? 

13. When such a condition exists, does it not in¬ 

dicate that there is sin there; that the 
Scriptures are being disobeyed by one side 
or both sides to the dispute ? 

14. Should they not, therefore, come together and 

discuss the trouble, locate the sin, and cor¬ 
rect it? 

15. What will cause an elder to become unaccept¬ 

able to his people ? 

16. Would an elder who possesses all the qualifi¬ 

cations be guilty of those things ? 

17. Will a congregation that follows the word of 

God become dissatisfied with scriptural 
elders ? 

18. If it does, of what is it guilty? 

19. In order to keep the people from growing 

tired of an elder, would it not be well for 
him to study in order to have new 
thoughts and lessons for them? 

20. Should an elder not also keep himself in the 

background as much as possible, oversee- 


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ing the work, but allowing others to 
do it? 

21. Must not the elders develop the talent in the 

congregation ? 

22. Quote Eph. 4: 1-7; 4: 31-32; also Phil. 2: 1- 

11 . 

Note.— Let the teacher see that these passages 
are memorized by each member of the class. 
Every Christian should know them. Do not play 
at studying these important lessons. If your 
class is not really in earnest, you would better 
quit. 


CHAPTER VII. 


The Diaconate. 


If we confine our study of the diaconate to the 
English version of the New Testament, our in¬ 
formation on that subject is likely to be rather 
fragmentary and unsatisfactory; for though we 
find the deacons distinctly mentioned as a special 
class of servants in the church and though there 
are some very strict requirements given for those 
who would serve as deacons, we are not given any 
undisputed history of their origin and but little 
information with regard to their functions. We 
are accustomed to gain a great deal of informa¬ 
tion from the sixth chapter of the Acts, but we 
must remember that those seven who were ap¬ 
pointed to see that the Hellenistic widows were 
not deprived of their share in the “daily ministra¬ 
tions” are nowhere called “deacons” in the Eng¬ 
lish Scriptures. The Greek word which desig¬ 
nates them is diakonos, and it is afterwards em¬ 
ployed to designate those who were appointed to 
the diaconate; but its primary meaning was sim¬ 
ply “minister,” “servant,” or “attendant,” and it 
is used many times in the New Testament to 
designate any servant—used without any techni¬ 
cal or official signification whatever. It is even 
applied to the Christ in Rom. 15: 8. Paul says 




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Christ “was made the minister [diakonos] of cir¬ 
cumcision.” The same apostle several times calls 
himself a “minister ,, ( diakonos ) of God. (See 
2 Cor. 6:4; Eph. 3:7.) It is difficult, therefore, 
to determine whether the seven were the same 
officers or servants, if you prefer it, mentioned 
by Paul in Phil. 1: 1; 1 Tim. 3: 8. The word 
diakonos occurs some thirty times in the New 
Testament, and only about four times is it used as 
an official designation. In point of time the earliest 
mention of deacons as officers or appointed serv¬ 
ants in the church is found in the salutation of 
the Epistle to the Philippians (unless we con¬ 
sider Phoebe an officer in the church, which is 
probable, but not certain). A little later in the 
history of the church we find Paul giving Tim¬ 
othy careful instructions as to the qualifications 
of the men who were to be appointed to the di- 
aconate. It is certain, however, from these refer¬ 
ences, that the service of deacons was already es¬ 
tablished when these Epistles were written. How 
long it had been established, we cannot definitely 
determine. 

It is pretty generally assumed that the ministry 
of deacons began with the appointment of the 
seven at Jerusalem, but this is not undisputed. 
Some very reputable scholars insist that an order 
of deacons had existed in the church even before 
that time. As the word presbuteros means more 
than simply elderly or aged, likewise the word 
neoteros means more than younger in years, or 
youthful. It is thought, therefore, that the eider 


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and the younger in the infant church were the 
same class of servants who were afterwards 
called the “bishops” and the “deacons.” The 
young men mentioned in Acts 5: 6-10, who at¬ 
tended to the burying of Ananias and Sapphira, 
are by some supposed to be the deacons. It is 
also thought by some Bible scholars that the di- 
aconate, like the eldership, was borrowed from 
the Jewish institutions. They claim that there 
was a class of servants or attendants in the syn¬ 
agogue that corresponded to the deacons in the 
Christian church. The twentieth verse of the 
fourth chapter of Luke is used to support this 
inference. The word for “attendant” in that 
verse is synonymous with diakonos, and, of 
course, may designate any servant or a special 
class of servants. Every man is left free to 
form his own opinion about the meaning of the 
word in this verse, and no one can say definitely 
that he is right and the other man is wrong. 

We are practically shut up to one passage of 
scripture in the study of the service of deacons. 
Let us, therefore, quote it in full: 

“Deacons in like manner must be grave, not 
double-tongued, not given to much wine, not 
greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the 
faith in a pure conscience. And let these also 
first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, 
if they be blameless. Women in like manner must 
be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in 
all things. Let deacons be husbands of one wife, 
ruling their children and their own houses well. 

7 


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For they that have served well as deacons gain to 
themselves a good standing, and great boldness in 
the faitluwhich is in Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 3: 
8-13.) 

From this passage we learn that those who 
would serve as deacons must possess the follow¬ 
ing qualifications: 

1. They must be grave, or sober-minded. 

2. Not double-tongued, or two-faced. 

3. Not given to much wine. 

4. Not greedy of filthy lucre—no lover of 
money. 

5. They must hold the mystery of faith in a 
pure conscience. 

6. The husband of one wife. 

7. Ruling well their own houses. 

From these requirements we would naturally 
suppose that the deacon’s work is of some impor¬ 
tance. They are not as numerous as those stipu¬ 
lated for the elders; but they embrace the most 
important ones, except the deacons are not re¬ 
quired to be “apt to teach.” It has been observed 
by some one that the deacons were to hold the 
mystery of faith, while the elders were to be able 
to impart it to others. They must be sound in the 
faith, but the elders must also have an aptitude 
for teaching. We rather think this qualification 
required the deacons conscientiously to remain 
sound in the faith, not to waver for fear or favor. 

We can gain but little information from this 
passage on the functions of the deacons. Some 
have supposed that the deacons were “sort of” 


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junior elders; that those who serve well as dea¬ 
cons gain to themselves a good step or degree 
and may be promoted to the eldership; and it is 
true that the elders were chosen from among the 
deacons in the churches of the second century. 
This, however, seems to have been the hierarchy 
in embryo, and we suspect the idea was born after 
the apostolic day. The duties of the bishops and 
deacons were, no doubt, different; but the degrees 
of rank and the importance of work is just the 
estimation of men. Some things that God has 
said may appear to us to be more important than 
some other of his commands, but we do not know 
that we are privileged to pronounce them so. 
However much the functions of the deacons may 
differ from those of the elders, it is impossible for 
them to please God and not perform their func¬ 
tions. Hence it is just as necessary that they 
serve faithfully as deacons as that the elders 
serve as elders. Let us notice the expression, 
“those who have served well as deacons.” “Have 
served as deacons” is all one word in the Greek. 
It is diakonesantes, and it is translated by Dr. 
MacKnight, by Conybeare and Howson, by “Liv¬ 
ing Oracles,” by Bloomfield, by George Ricker 
Berry, and by the King James translators thus: 
“Used the office of a deacon” or “performed the 
office of a deacon.” Of course the rendering of 
the Revised Version does not differ from these 
in meaning, but it gives those whose righteous 
souls are vexed by the word “office” an opportu¬ 
nity to make a distinction where there is no dif- 


100 


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ference. The expression, “those who serve well 
as deacons,” must mean those who serve well in 
the position of deacons, or in the capacity of dea¬ 
cons, or in the office of deacons. The word might 
be translated “those who serve well as servants,” 
but that would be but little better than Mr. 
William (“Billy”) Sunday’s “deacons who would 
not deac.” 

Whatever translation we use, we will get the 
idea that there were certain duties belonging to 
the deacons, and those who faithfully discharged 
them would be honored for it. Now the question 
that concerns us most is: What are those duties ? 

It is generally agreed that it was the work of 
the deacons to look after the temporal affairs of 
the church, while the elders overlooked its spirit¬ 
ual affairs. It would be the duty of the deacons 
in the present-day congregation to see to the 
lighting, heating, cleaning up, and maintaining 
the church building; to usher the crowds and 
ventilate the auditorium; to see that the emblems 
are prepared for the Lord’s table; to always have 
a baptistery ready, whether indoors or out; and 
to care for the poor of the congregation—relieve 
their wants from the church treasury. All cases 
of need should be reported to the deacons. The 
care of the poor seems to have been the chief 
work of the deacons in the early church. 

Of course it is doubtful whether the New Tes¬ 
tament deacons did all the things named above, 
for they had no church houses to keep repaired 
or janitors to jog in those days. However, they 


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looked after all the temporal affairs that were 
necessary. All the things mentioned above must 
be done to-day in order to have system, comfort, 
and decency; and it seems that the deacons should 
attend to such matters. 

It is a disputed point as to whether there was 
an order of deaconesses in the New Testament 
church, and there is probably no way definitely to 
decide the question. There is, however, some evi¬ 
dence in favor of the idea. But before we con¬ 
sider the evidence, let us remove any forebodings 
of heresy by observing that there is nothing in 
the work that belongs to the deacons that a 
woman cannot do consistently with the inhibi¬ 
tions laid upon her by the Scriptures. On the 
contrary, there is a part of the work that women 
seem eminently better adapted to than men. In 
our present-day congregations the good women do 
most of this work, whether we call them “deacon¬ 
esses” or something else or nothing. 

The strongest indication that there were dea¬ 
conesses in the early church is the language of 1 
Tim. 3: 11. Right in the midst of his in¬ 
structions concerning deacons the apostle says: 
“Women in like manner must be grave, not 
slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.” 
“Women!” What women? Why, those who are 
appointed to the diaconate. “In like manner”— 
the same as the men who are appointed. But we 
are reminded that the Authorized Version reads: 
“Even so must their wives, etc.” But in the 
Greek there is simply the one word gunaikos, 


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which may mean either wives or women. To 
translate it “their wives,” and thus make it ap¬ 
ply to the wives of the deacons only, is a mistake, 
evidently. If it is rendered “wives in like man¬ 
ner,” etc., it would then either apply to all Chris¬ 
tian wives or to the wives of both the bishops 
and deacons. But it would seem contrary to all 
reason to suppose that the apostle would insert a 
general remark concerning Christian wives in 
the midst of his instructions concerning church 
officers, and it would seem strange that the apos¬ 
tle had omitted to say anything concerning the 
wives of the bishops both in this chapter and in 
his letter to Titus and yet require so much of a 
deacon's wife. Again, it would be rather awk¬ 
ward to place the qualifications of the wives of 
bishops and deacons right in the middle of the 
requirements of those who should be appointed to 
the diaconate. The Revised Version gives us the 
best translation, decidedly. “Women in like man¬ 
ner”—this might be understood to mean all Chris¬ 
tian women, but the same reason for not making 
it apply to all wives would stand against that in¬ 
terpretation also. Why should the apostle throw 
in a general remark about women in his instruc¬ 
tions about deacons? 

If it is true that the churches had deaconesses 
in them, we would most naturally understand 
Phoebe to be a deaconess and not simply a serv¬ 
ant. Indeed, the language concerning her seems 
to sustain the idea. She was a servant or dea¬ 
coness of the church at Cenchrea, and not a serv- 


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ant of Paul or of the church at Rome in carrying 
the letter from him to them, as some have sup¬ 
posed. She had succored many, and that is the 
very work that deacons are appointed to do. 

We need women now to do such service. Fre¬ 
quently women and girls who are to be baptized 
do not know how to prepare for the ordinance. 
Some mothers who seem to have more sentiment 
than judgment want their daughters to be dressed 
in white, which color is all right if the material 
is proper; but it is usually muslin or some other 
sort of filmy, clinging material. A good, sensible, 
motherly woman could be of great service in help¬ 
ing such persons prepare for baptism. Again, 
the greater number of cases of needy poor are 
among the widows and orphans; and when they 
are self-respecting and inclined to be proud, they 
would much more readily and with less embar¬ 
rassment tell their needs to a good, kind, moth¬ 
erly woman than they would to a man. Further¬ 
more, if a man manifests too great interest in 
such cases, the evil minds and long tongues of the 
community may seize the opportunity to damage 
the church. Let not your good be evil spoken of 
and do not give place to the devil. To pure- 
minded persons what is suggested may seem ut¬ 
terly unthinkable, but experience will teach them. 
“We are not ignorant of his [the devil's] devices." 

Whether women are called “deaconesses" or 
“servants," and whether they are appointed or 
not appointed, there is much for them to do in 
the Lord's cause, and there is greater need for 


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women to be “teachers of that which is good” in 
the present day than ever before in the history of 
our country. 0, how the young women of this age 
need to be taught the very things Paul tells the 
elderly women to teach! (Tit. 2: 3, 4.) 

It is not necessary to say that the deacons were 
appointed in the same way that elders were. If 
we understand that Stephen and his six compan¬ 
ions were appointed to the diaconate, we have an 
apostolic example of how the appointing was 
done. From Paul we learn that the deacons must 
first be proved and then appointed. 

If there were deaconesses, we would suppose 
they were appointed in the same way. We see 
no reason for thinking they would not be so ap¬ 
pointed. If the laying on of hands was for the 
purpose of imparting a spiritual gift, the women, 
no doubt, received the gifts also. There were 
women in the New Testament who had spiritual 
gifts, particularly the gift of prophecy. 

It has been said that the fact that Paul said, 
“Let deacons be husbands of one wife,” shows 
that there were no women in the diaconate; but 
that is fallacious. The word that designates a 
deaconess is of different form and gender in the 
Greek as in the English. What is said, therefore, 
about a deacon would not always apply to a dea¬ 
coness. No Jew ever had a husband, but that 
doesn’t mean that no Jewess ever had a husband. 
So the question cannot be settled by that point. 

So far as any objection we have ever heard ap¬ 
plies, there is no wrong in supposing that there 


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105 


were deaconesses in the early church, though 
there is no definite proof for the claim. 

However this may all be, we know the qualifi¬ 
cations of a deacon and we know what his work 
is. We also know the importance of such work. 
Let not the disputed points hinder the work, 
therefore. Learn all you can and do all you learn, 
but leave that which is not clear to the Lord. 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. When do we first read of deacons? 

2. Do you think this order of servants was bor¬ 

rowed from the synagogue? 

3. What are the qualifications of deacons ? 

4. What is the work of deacons ? 

5. If it is the duty of the deacons to look after 

the temporal affairs of the church, make a 
list of the things that they should attend 
to. Do your deacons do these things? 

6. Can women scripturally do the things you 

have listed? 

7. Name some things that women can do and 

should do. 

8. Why can women care for the poor better than 

men can? 

9. Can you name any women who are mentioned 

in the New Testament as faithful servants 
of God and worthy laborers in his cause? 
(See Acts 21: 9; Rom. 16: 1-7, 12, 15; 
Phil. 4: 2, 3.) 

10. Debate: “Resolved, That the New Testament 


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churches had women appointed as deacon¬ 
esses in their membership.” 

AFFIRMATIVE. NEGATIVE. 


Note.— Let the teacher select four of the best- 
informed members of the class, whether men or 
boys, and let them discuss this question. It will 
quicken the interest of the whole class, and will 
cause the disputants to study the whole subject of 
the diaconate more diligently. Suggest that they 
should consult the Bible dictionaries, encyclope¬ 
dias, commentaries, etc., freely; but impress them 
with the fact that these are not infallible. They 
will see that also from the lack of agreement. 




CHAPTER VIII. 


Dealing with the Disorderly. 


It is impossible to enforce discipline in any con¬ 
gregation that is not scripturally organized; 
hence, until the lessons which we have tried to 
teach in the preceding chapters are learned and 
put into practice, it will do no good to know what 
the Bible teaches on the subject of discipline, un¬ 
less, by seeing the importance of this subject, we 
seek to bring about such conditions in the congre¬ 
gation as will permit us to obey God in this mat¬ 
ter also. If there were no other reasons for de¬ 
siring to have the congregation organized after 
the New Testament pattern, the care of the erring 
would be sufficient. The Lord desires that his 
church be a pure church—without spot, wrinkle, 
blemish, or any such thing. He died that he 
might thus cleanse and sanctify his church, and 
he has given laws by which it may be kept pure. 
(Eph. 5: 20-30.) The church is the bride of 
Christ, espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 
Cor. 11:2); and it is unthinkable that Christ will 
own his bride if she becomes unchaste, plays the 
harlot after the world, and has her affections 
taken away from Christ and set on things of the 
earth. And there is a danger that such a condi¬ 
tion may take hold of either the individual Chris- 




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tian or the congregation. If a congregation per¬ 
mits impure individuals to remain unchastened 
within its fellowship, it thereby becomes a par¬ 
taker of their sin and will soon so far fall out of 
the favor of the Lord that the candlestick will be 
removed. (Rev. 2:5.) Paul says a little leaven 
will leaven the whole lump. (1 Cor. 5:6.) He 
showed that the whole church at Corinth had al¬ 
ready become guilty of the wicked man’s sin. If 
there is an Achan in the camp, the Lord’s cause 
will never prosper. This is why so many of our 
congregations have lost their influence, have 
ceased to grow, and never convert sinners. They 
may use much money in their work, but money is 
no substitute for righteousness. They may have 
the very best preachers that live to-day, and they 
may preach the gospel with eloquence, earnest¬ 
ness, and power", but with no results to speak of. 
What is the trouble ? Why, the congregation is in 
the way. The same preaching in a new field 
would have converted fifty or a hundred times as 
many people. Is it right, then, for preachers to 
waste their time and energy on such churches? 
But shall we turn them over to the devil in a 
body? There are always many good people in 
every congregation. No; the better way is to put 
away the evil and save the body. Organize the 
congregation according to the Lord’s word in or¬ 
der that they may keep free from such conditions. 

There are three questions which w T e should like 
to consider in this chapter. They are: 

1. How can we prevent disorderly conduct on 


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the part of any member? We should not forget 
that God’s laws were given to men and not to an¬ 
gels—that is, the laws we have. The Lord knew 
our weaknesses, and has made all necessary pro¬ 
visions for them. The fact that God is holy and 
righteous himself should encourage us and not 
discourage us. True, he hates sin; but he loves 
the sinner. The reason he hates sin is that it 
has wrought ruin among men whom he loves. 
Yes, God loves the sinner; and the more like God 
we are in holiness, justice, and mercy, the greater 
will be our love and compassion for the erring. 
The good man deals with his erring brother in 
meekness, gentleness, and a kindly sympathy. It 
is the Pharisee—the self-righteous man, the hyp¬ 
ocrite—who is exacting and censorious. 

Because God loved us and knew our weak¬ 
nesses he has, as said above, made provisions for 
us; and the reason so many of us fail is that we 
do not appreciate his provisions and appropriate 
the means of grace that he has given us. There 
would have been no need for the throne of inter¬ 
cession and the mediatorial reign of Christ if men 
were made perfect at conversion. Our boldness in 
approaching God comes from our trust in our High 
Priest and not from our own sufficiency. (Read 
Heb. 2: 10-18; 4: 14-16; 7: 26-28.) “If we con¬ 
fess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to for¬ 
give us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un¬ 
righteousness.” (1 John 1: 9.) “And if any 
man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propi- 


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tiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but 
also for the whole world.” (1 John 2: 1, 2.) 
These things should encourage us and keep us 
from sinning; for, having this hope in ourselves, 
we purify ourselves even as he is pure. (1 John 
3: 1-4.) 

But if some of our members are not as faithful 
as they should be in following this teaching, or 
if they are inclined to be weak, how shall we pre¬ 
vent their becoming disorderly ? By doing as God 
directs. He knew there would be such persons, 
and his arrangements included them. There is 
danger that the best of us will fall; hence we 
should take all precautions. “Take heed, breth¬ 
ren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you 
an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from 
the living God: but exhort one another day by 
day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of 
you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” 
(Heb. 3: 12, 13.) “And let us consider one an¬ 
other to provoke unto love and good works; not 
forsaking our own assembling together, as the 
custom of some is, but exhorting one another; 
and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing 
nigh.” (Heb. 10: 24, 25.) “Confess therefore 
your sins one to another, and pray one for an¬ 
other, that ye may be healed.” (James 5: 16.) 

Analyzing the above quotations, we learn that 
in order to keep from falling away from God— 
from being hardened by sin—(a) we should take 
heed, be watchful for ourselves and for each 
other. (6) We should exhort one another, and do 


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Ill 


so daily, (c) We should consider one another, be 
thoughtful of, solicitous for one another, and pro¬ 
voke one another to love and good works. ( d) We 
should not forsake our own assembling together, 
because by our communion, fellowship, and ex¬ 
hortations we strengthen and help one another. 
And this exhorting of each other should be the 
more diligently attended to as we see the day 
drawing nigh. It is unfortunate that this text 
has by some among us been so much used as a 
proof text that it has come to be regarded as 
nothing else, and has with those who thus misuse 
it lost all its force and beauty. While in all prob¬ 
ability the assembling here referred to was their 
Lord’s-day services, this text by no means proves 
that they assembled on the first day of the week. 
We must learn that from other scriptures. The 
teaching of this text is of mutual helpfulness— 
consider one another, provoke one another to love 
and good works, exhort one another, and neglect 
not your assembling together, that you may be 
helped by your association, exhortations, and 
prayers. The “day drawing nigh” did not mean 
the Lord's day. No Bible scholar worthy of the 
name ever took that position. ( e ) “Confess your 
sins one to another, and pray one for another.” 
We think this text is appropriate only when a 
backslider returns, but that is a mistake. We are 
all sinners; and if we do not admit it, we are 
self-deceived (1 John 1: 8-10); and we should 
not only confess to God, but to one another also. 
If we could often have meetings where nothing 


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but love and sympathy for one another exists 
and we would freely confess our sins, specifying 
the exact sin when possible, and tell our weak 
points and our struggles against evils of heart 
and life, and then pray together, we would all be 
better Christians. Why don’t we do it? The Bi¬ 
ble teaches us to do it. 

The three thousand who obeyed the gospel on 
the day of Pentecost continued steadfastly in (a) 
the apostles’ teaching, ( b) in fellowship, (c) 
breaking of bread, and ( d ) prayers. (Acts 2: 
42.) The way they continued in the apostles’ 
teaching was, no doubt, to sit at their feet and 
hear them and learn the will of God. To-day we 
would continue in their teaching by reading the 
Bible, studying the New Testament daily. Of 
course we all know what the other three things 
mean. Then let us also continue steadfastly in 
these things. If we will do as these scriptures 
teach, we will not often, if ever, be troubled with 
disorderly members. 

2. What is it to walk disorderly? We have al¬ 
ready seen that we all sin, and we would now 
naturally inquire: What sin, or what nature of 
sin, would one have to commit in order to be con¬ 
sidered disorderly? Are we all disorderly? It 
would be difficult to classify sin as regards guilt 
or degrees of guilt. In fact, it is doubtful whether 
or not man knows the demerits of any sin. He 
cannot know how God regards sin except as God 
has spoken on the subject. Men may speak of the 
exceeding sinfulness of certain sins and of the 


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113 


comparative innocence of other sins; but their 
judgment may not be correct, and what they re¬ 
gard as minor offenses may be monstrous in the 
sight of God, and what men may consider heinous 
and unpardonable may not appear so to God. 
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither 
are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah.” (Isa. 
55: 8.) Men look on the outward appearance; 
God looks on the heart. Some men who do very 
bad things are not bad men at heart; other men 
who have not broken through into outrageous 
acts are at heart presumptuous, rebellious, en¬ 
vious, covetous, and ready to do all sorts of little, 
mean, underhand, disguised deeds of evil. 

In the nature of things, however, we can only 
deal with persons whose sins are overt. Any per¬ 
son who sins is in need of the encouragement and 
admonition of faithful Christians; but only the 
person who sins and is impenitent, defiant, and 
shows the purpose to continue his sins should be 
considered disorderly . It is more the disposition 
than the deed. It is not so much a question of 
what a person has done as it is of his attitude to¬ 
ward his wrong and toward those whose duty it 
is to correct him. True, the apostle Paul did 
name certain sins that the church must put away 
from its fellowship (1 Cor. 5: 11) ; but even per¬ 
sons guilty of these sins must be forgiven if they 
repent, as the history of the case at Corinth 
shows. 

To. answer the question, “Who is disorderly ?” 
we would say that any person who persists in sin, 

8 


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any sin, or who refuses to repent, or to be cor¬ 
rected, should be regarded as disorderly and 
should be dealt with as such. 

3. How should we deal with the disorderly? 
(a) We should pray for them. “If any man see 
his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall 
ask, and God will give him life for them that sin 
not unto death.” (1 John 5: 16.) ( b ) We 

should make an effort to convert them from their 
error. “My brethren, if any among you err from 
the truth, and one convert him; let him know, 
that he who converteth a sinner from the error 
of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall 
cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5: 19, 20.) 
(c) We should restore them if possible. “Breth¬ 
ren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, 
ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the 
spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou 
also be tempted.” (Gal. 6: 1.) ( d ) We should 
admonish them. “And we exhort you, brethren, 
admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint¬ 
hearted, support the weak, be long-suffering to¬ 
ward all.” (1 Thess. 5: 14.) (e) We should 

withdraw from them, if they will not repent. 
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw your¬ 
selves from every brother that walketh disor¬ 
derly, and not after the tradition which they re¬ 
ceived of us.” (2 Thess. 3: 6.) “Put away the 
wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Cor. 
5: 13; read the whole chapter.) 


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115 


As in all other efforts to obey God, there will be 
persons who object to following the instructions 
just quoted from Paul; but these lessons are too 
plain to be misunderstood and too important and 
too emphatic to be ignored. If the church is prop¬ 
erly organized, as it must be before these direc¬ 
tions can be followed, the elders will pay no heed 
to such puny and perverse objectors; for they are 
either too ignorant of God’s word to have a voice 
in such serious affairs or they are actuated by 
some selfish, stubborn, or perverse desires; and 
that would, of course, disqualify them for any part 
in such matters. If people do not know what the 
Bible teaches, they must not criticize or otherwise 
hinder the elders who do know; and if they know, 
but will not obey, they are themselves disorderly 
and the Scriptures must be applied to them. Such 
persons will most likely quote scripture to jus¬ 
tify themselves, but that makes their offense all 
the more flagrant. Almost all classes of sinners 
do that. The Bible never justifies wrong, and any 
man who tries to pervert scripture to excuse that 
which is obviously wrong is a blasphemer. Of 
course this does not apply to any sincere person 
who does not see the truth; but it does not take 
long to show sincere, honest souls what God 
teaches. Any person who will try to destroy the 
plain, unmistakable teaching of one passage of 
scripture by quoting another could hardly be con¬ 
sidered honest. In view of the teaching of 1 Cor. 
5; 2 Thess. 3:6; Matt. 18: 15-19, what shall we 
say of a person who would refer to the parable 


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of the tares in an effort to prove that we should 
not “put away the wicked man from among” 
ourselves? Like all other efforts to make the 
Scriptures cross themselves, this effort is a fail¬ 
ure, for the Scriptures will not cross. In ex¬ 
plaining the parable of the tares, Jesus said that 
“the field is the world” (Matt. 13: 38), not the 
church; and Paul said that we had nothing to do 
with judging them that are without, and that we 
could not avoid having company with evil men 
of the world unless we go out of the world (1 Cor. 
5: 9, 10, 12). No church should ever allow ob¬ 
jectors to hinder it in clearing itself of evil. 

The method of procedure in dealing with a dis¬ 
orderly member is given in Matt. 18: 15-19. 
Some may say that that passage refers only to 
personal offenses, but the same manner should be 
followed in dealing with any offense, as has been 
shown in this chapter. After all the admonitions, 
entreaties, tears, and prayers of the elders and 
other personal workers (of course the elders will 
require the assistance of any earnest Christian, 
especially any one who seems to have any influ¬ 
ence with the erring brother. Let them see him 
personally and privately; for if the man is vis¬ 
ited by a committee in a “professional” or “offi¬ 
cial” capacity, it looks as if he is “arraigned” and 
“held to answer,” and it will excite anger and 
arouse rebellion. He will begin to fight in de¬ 
fense. All this, however, is taken care of in the 
passage—Matt. 18: 18-20) have failed to bring 
the erring brother to repentance, then the matter 


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117 


must be told to the church—brought before the 
whole congregation. There are many reasons 
why he should be tried (though it should not be 
considered a trial) before the whole church and 
not by the elders alone. It must be told to the 
church before action is or can be taken by the 
church. The expression, “if he will not hear the 
church ” shows that the church should appeal to 
him to repent. If the whole church does not 
know the brother’s offense, the efforts that were 
made to restore him, and, therefore, still consid¬ 
ers him good enough for its fellowship, sympa¬ 
thy, and love, he would not be disfellowshiped by 
the church, no matter what the elders had done. 
Further, if the church does not know fully the 
merits and demerits of the case, it would make it 
easy for the wrongdoer to appeal for sympathy 
and claim that he had been unjustly treated. He 
would be sure to have sympathizers; hence there 
would be factions in the church, the brother 
would be encouraged in his wrongdoing, the eld¬ 
ers would lose the respect of their members, and 
the whole purpose of discipline would be defeated. 
In fact, the elders ought to lose the respect of all 
the members if they should try to withdraw from 
a brother without first “telling it to the church.” 
Paul told the church at Corinth that, “being gath¬ 
ered together” they should deliver the wicked 
person unto Satan. It must be told to the whole 
church in an assembled capacity—that is, the of¬ 
fense must be told that the church may then be 


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heard in an effort to gain the brother. Let us 
suppose a case: 

In the congregation at Christianville a brother 
has sinned—walked disorderly. He has been ad¬ 
monished by the leading brethren of the church, 
singly, to repent. The elders have assured him of 
their love and of their earnest desire to see him 
saved—of their anxiety for his spiritual welfare. 
They have warned him against his course and 
begged him to repent. He stoutly refuses, and 
gives the brethren to understand that it is none 
of their concern. It is then announced to the 
congregation that there is a brother who has been 
guilty of sin, who has been earnestly and repeat¬ 
edly admonished to repent, but who refuses, and 
that, therefore, the church is now requested to 
come together at a stated time to endeavor to 
bring the brother to repentance. The fact that it 
is the business of the whole church is stressed, 
and every member is urged to be present. The 
appointed hour has arrived, and the brethren and 
sisters are all there. One of the elders acts as 
chairman of the meeting and calls for a song. 
After the song, another elder reads appropriate 
scripture, and the whole assembly engages in 
prayer, led by the chairman. The brother who 
sinned is not present, though he was told of the 
meeting and asked to come. The chairman then 
tells the whole congregation who the offender is, 
what he has done, and what efforts have been 
made to bring him to repentance. He states that 
they should all earnestly pray for his redemption. 


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119 


They all together kneel and pray for the erring 
brother. After the prayer, the chairman asks if 
any member can see any mistake that the elders 
have made in dealing with this case, or if any can 
suggest a further step that they should take for 
the man's restoration. Nothing is suggested. 
The chairman then suggests that, as the brother 
refused to come in order that the whole church 
might be heard, each member should see him per¬ 
sonally if possible and make an effort to save him. 
Then another time for meeting to deal with the 
case is announced, and the audience is dismissed. 
They meet again at the time appointed, and en¬ 
gage in singing and prayer. Then all efforts are 
reported. None of them have availed. The 
chairman then asks if any one can give any rea¬ 
son why the disorderly person should not be dis- 
fellowshiped. No one can give any. Then it is 
simply, but gravely, announced that the brother 
is no longer a brother, but is now looked upon as 
unworthy of Christian friendship or fellowship. 

Under another example we might suppose the 
disorderly brother present; but the same order 
would be followed, except that, if he did not ac¬ 
knowledge the sin he was charged with, the eld¬ 
ers should be able to tell the church what evidence 
there was of his guilt. 

In such a meeting there should be a very man¬ 
ifest spirit of seriousness, of earnestness, and of 
prayer. Any member should be allowed to speak 
in order that nothing be left unsaid and in the 
hope that some one might be able to reach the 


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brother’s heart and save his soul. Great patience 
should be used in trying to show the man that his 
excuses do not justify his action, and he should 
be made to say whether he wishes publicly to re¬ 
nounce the Lord as he once publicly confessed him. 
If he says that he does, of course that would end 
the matter and place him outside the fellowship 
of the church. If he will not state that he so in¬ 
tends to treat the Lord, he should be shown that 
his conduct in refusing to hear the church is equal 
to a public renouncement; that if the church is 
forced to put him away, disfellowship him, or 
turn him out, their action will be recognized in 
heaven and his name will be taken out of the 
Lamb’s book of life. (Matt. 18: 18, 19.) 

If after all this is done in the proper spirit— 
no personal dislike for the brother allowed to en¬ 
ter the matter, no sort of personal animus in any 
way present—the sinner is still obstinate and im¬ 
penitent, the elders should ask if anybody knows 
any reason why the man should not be “turned 
over to the devil.” If any reasons are offered in 
the right spirit, they should be considered, and 
those who offered them should be satisfied. If 
none are given, or after those given are disposed 
of, the elders should make it plain that the whole 
church acquiesces in the withdrawal, and that any 
criticism of the action would force them to also 
discipline the critics. Then the elders should an¬ 
nounce, with becoming gravity, that Brother or 

Sister- (calling the person by name) has, by 

persisting in sin, in rebellion to the church, by 
spurning the entreaties and prayers of the broth- 



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121 


ers and sisters in the Lord, rendered himself or 
herself unfit for the society of Christian people, 
unsuitable for the fellowship of the church, and 
unworthy of the name of the Lord. And the Lord 
should be invoked to recognize the action. 

After this solemn action, the disfellowshiped 
member should be allowed to pass out of the as¬ 
sembly without a single handshake or word of 
sympathy. Let no one in any way encourage him 
or indorse his conduct. That would defeat the 
whole purpose. When he is made to realize that 
he is disfellowshiped, that he is undeserving of 
sympathy and unworthy of Christian associ¬ 
ations, he will repent; and that is the end to be 
sought in the whole procedure and what every 
Christian prays for. 

This may look hard, but it is far better than to 
let the man be self-deceived and remain in sin till 
he must at last hear the same sentence pro¬ 
nounced by the Lord in the awful word “depart.” 
Then it will be too late; and we, if we have con¬ 
nived at his sin and become partakers of his 
guilt, will have to share his doom. 

The Lord’s way is best. Let us be faithful. 
“Let all that you do be done in love.” 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. Is it right to allow sin to go unreproved in a 

congregation ? 

2. Who sins? 

3. What should we do about our sins ? 

4. When should we confess our sins one to an¬ 

other? 


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5. On what condition does God forgive our sins ? 

6. Is there provision made for our sins ? 

7. Tell how we may keep ourselves and others 

from becoming disorderly. 

8. What is it to walk disorderly? 

9. What is a backslider? 

10. Should a brother be considered a backslider 

because he has done wrong? 

11. Should any man be called a “backslider” un¬ 

til he gives up trying to do right and says 
he publicly renounces the Lord? 

12. If he says he does not intend to make any ef¬ 

fort to serve the Lord, should his statement 
be publicly announced? 

13. If any member is persistently disorderly, 

what should be done with him? 

14. Tell how he should be put away. 

15. After he has been withdrawn from, how 

should he be treated? 

16. Suppose certain members take the part of the 

erring brother and criticize the action of 
the church, how should they be treated? 

17. In what spirit should all this be done? 

18. Should we let our sympathy influence us? 

19. Who shows the greater love for a brother— 

the one who permits him to be self-de¬ 
ceived and continue in sin or the one who 
corrects him even when harsh measures 
are necessary? 

20. What is the purpose or purposes of discipline ? 

21. Does your congregation follow God's word in 

this matter? 


CHAPTER IX. 


Figuring on the Finances. 

It is impossible to carry on any sort of enter¬ 
prise without money, and the church of God 
should be the most enterprising institution in any 
community. It takes money to do the work God 
has required of his church. If you know of any 
congregation that manages to run along without 
money, you may rest assured that it is doing 
nothing in the name of our King. If a church has 
only money enough to defray its own expenses— 
for song books, Bible-study helps, lights, fuel, the 
upkeep of the house, etc.—it cannot be considered 
as doing much for God. A congregation that does 
nothing but exist is not much of an honor to 
Christ, and it is no honor at all to be a member 
of such a church. The church is the pillar and 
support of the truth, the light of the world, and 
the salt of the earth. Every congregation should 
be a radiating center, and its light should shine 
in every direction and into far distant fields. But 
some man, willing to justify himself, may argue 
that our light shines through our conduct; by 
living a righteous life we have an influence for 
good. That is true, and all else is worthless with¬ 
out a righteous life; but a man whose work for 
God is limited to his personal acquaintances is 
not a very brilliant light. What honor is it to 


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Christ that a man behaves so as to keep out of the 
penitentiary? We owe that to ourselves. What 
have we done for Christ? 

Christ commanded us— you , all Christians —to 
go into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature. How can we say that we have 
obeyed him if we spend three hundred and sixty- 
five days of the year working for ourselves, try¬ 
ing to build up a comfortable home for ourselves, 
trying to make money—if all our time and ener¬ 
gies are spent in our own interest? Souls for 
whom Christ died are perishing, the cause of 
Christ is languishing at home, and the few mis¬ 
sionaries that are on the foreign field are starv¬ 
ing. Yet God’s children are living in ease, in lux¬ 
ury, feasting and growing fat! We are not 
grieved over the “afflictions of Joseph;” we are 
singing idle songs, dancing, going to shows and 
theaters, and are deaf to the gospel word. Can 
we be saved in such a condition? How can we 
expect salvation? 

We do not wish to be either caustic or pessimis¬ 
tic, and we don’t want to make any invidious 
comparisons; but in the hope of provoking us to 
greater efforts we want to submit a few facts. 
Statistics show that small sectarian bodies give 
many times more money in the interest of their 
propaganda, have more missionaries in the field, 
than all the “loyal” churches of Christ. We will 
mention another thing that has come under our 
observation. In a certain town there is a Meth¬ 
odist Church and a church of Christ. The church 


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125 


of Christ has a greater number of members, if 
we count only the adult members of the Methodist 
Church, and more wealth. The Methodist Church 
has a “pastor” to whom they pay $2,400 per year. 
The church of Christ has a preacher whom they 
support by the hardest with a salary just exactly 
half that large. The Methodist Church has a mis¬ 
sionary in China whom they support with $1,000 
per year. The church of Christ gives about $50 
or $60 per year for missionary purposes! The 
Methodist Church gives more to “charity” or be¬ 
nevolent purposes than the church of Christ 
gives; it has a better meetinghouse, more con¬ 
veniences for Bible study; and its members are 
more zealous in their work, more regular in their 
attendance at prayer meeting, Sunday school, and 
all their services than the members of the church 
of Christ, with one exception—they always go to 
church on Sunday morning, usually too late for 
the Bible study and song worship and the prayers, 
but in time for the Lord’s Supper. 

“Think not to say within yourselves, We have 
the truth on baptism and the Lord’s Supper and 
the Methodists do not. Verily I say unto you, 
These things cannot save you.” 

This is not a pleasant comparison, and it is to 
be hoped that there are not many cases that it 
would fit; but it certainly is a matter of serious 
concern that we are not doing any more for Christ 
than we are. 

The scriptural way to raise money for the 
Lord’s work is, we presume, well known to all 


126 


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who may read this chapter; and it is not neces¬ 
sary, therefore, to discuss the many methods that 
are used by men for this purpose, some of which 
are even questionable as to their morality. Our 
trouble does not come from a lack of information 
on this point; but it comes here, as it does in all 
other phases of the Lord's work, from a failure to 
do what God commands and as he directs. His 
way is always best. 

Though we already know what the Bible 
teaches on this subject, we submit here an ar¬ 
rangement of the Lord's plan of raising money 
as given by Paul, and we suggest that this be put 
on a chart and placed before the congregation to 
study. It would be well for the elders to use it in 
teaching the members their duty in respect to giv¬ 
ing. They should especially emphasize the lesson 
taught under the division, “PERSONAL." We 
can no more obey God for our sons or our daugh¬ 
ters in the matter of giving than we can in bap¬ 
tism or the Lord's Supper. If they have no in¬ 
come, we should teach them to deny themselves 
some pleasures and give to the Lord a portion of 
that which we allow them for such things. But 
here is the chart: 


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127 


Paul's Plan of Church Finance. 


(1 Cor. 16: 2.) 



ERIODIC 
“Upon the first 


day of the week 


Worshipful 

Habitual 

Prayerful 

Cheerful 



ERSONAL 
let each one of you 



ROVIDENT 
lay by him 


in store 


Each Man 
Each Woman 
Each Boy 
Each Girl 
No Proxies 
No Merging 


Forehanded 

Deliberate 

Thoughtful 

Intelligent 


"pj\ ROPORTIONATE 
L JJ as he may 
prosper 

REVENTIVE 
that no collections be 
made when I come” 

If Paul's plan were followed in all our congre¬ 
gations, there would be no lack of funds for all 
our needs. In most places we do pretend to fol¬ 
low this plan, and often you find persons who are 
punctilious and scrupulous about “contributing 
on the first day of the week;" but they never do 
what that passage teaches. They overlook one 
chief point—viz., “as he may prosper” They 



Generous 

Careful 

Responsible 

Faithful 


No Deficit 

No Interest on Loans 
No Worry 
No Retrenchment 












128 


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think that if they go through the form of putting 
something into the collection basket they have 
obeyed God. Their income may be twenty-five 
dollars per week and their contributions ten cents, 
but that does not disturb their peaceful souls— 
they contribute every week just as the Bible 
teaches! Sometimes their income is more and 
the contribution less, or a smaller per cent; but 
that is a fair illustration of the way we sometimes 
obey (?) God in the matter of giving. 

We need to quicken our consciences on the 
duty of giving. We need to feel that we are dis¬ 
obedient when we fail to give as we may prosper 
just as much as we do when we fail to attend serv¬ 
ices or partake of the Lord's Supper. 

Our giving should be purposeful . We have too 
much accidental giving. Whatever amount we 
happen to have about us when the collection is 
taken we give, provided the amount is not more 
than twenty-five or fifty cents; or the first small 
coin we get our hands on as the plate passes we 
drop in and feel that we have done what God 
requires. “These things ought not so to be." 
Paul said: “Let each man do according as he hath 
purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of ne¬ 
cessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (2 
Cor. 9:7.) 

Every Christian should purpose in his heart to 
give so much to the Lord. But some one is ready 
with the objection that we do not know what our 
income will be. That is true with some, but it 
does not affect the lesson. We can purpose to give 


The Model Church. 


129 


a certain, definite per cent of our income, and 
then the amount of the income will determine the 
amount that we give. Such a purpose and such 
giving is more businesslike and shows more real 
faith and a true, conscientious desire to do the 
will of God. This loose, disjointed, purposeless 
giving is wrong. It is an excuse for the individ¬ 
ual to shirk duty, and it is a handicap to the con¬ 
gregation. No church can ever do its full duty 
until it undertakes something—obligates itself to 
do something. Every church should obligate it¬ 
self to support or help to support with a definite 
amount some work. But how can a church un¬ 
dertake anything like that unless there is some 
way of reckoning its resources? The elders 
should know something of the financial strength 
of the congregation. It would be easy if each 
member would willingly state what he purposes 
to do. 

If all were conscientious in this duty as in oth¬ 
ers, there would not be so much trouble and neg¬ 
ligence. But we are too prone to say that we will 
give as we prosper; and then if we have any 
sickness or other misfortune, we make the Lord 
pay the expense. Why not give a certain per 
cent of our income—not of our profit over and 
above our living, but of our income—our living; 
then if misfortune puts us behind with the Lord, 
do just as we do with our grocer—pay as we can? 
This would manifest an earnestness and an hon¬ 
esty in dealing with the Lord that he would in no 
wise despise. 

9 


130 


The Model Church. 


Here is a good place to test our faith. It may 
be that we are not what we profess to be. The 
next time we grow real zealous and boast of our 
superior loyalty to the Lord and feel inclined to 
declare that we believe the Bible from cover to 
cover, let us get our New Testament and turn to 
2 Cor. 9: 6-8 and read carefully, slowly, medita¬ 
tively, and then ask ourselves if we believe that. 
Do we sow bountifully? Do we believe if we did 
we would be prospered? Do we believe that God 
is able to make all grace abound unto us ? 

But some one asks how much or what per cent 
of our income we should give. That depends on 
our faith in the Lord's promises. If we believe 
that the more bountifully we sow the more boun¬ 
tifully we will reap, we would naturally want to 
give a liberal per cent. It is a good investment. 
Under the law the Lord required his people to 
give one-tenth of all they made. The Jews obeyed 
God in this, and they were always prosperous. 
Some Christians give a tenth to the Lord, and 
they are more prosperous than those who do not 
give anything. It is easy if our will and purpose 
is to do that, but it is awful if it is against our 
will. The heart must be in it, otherwise it is 
worthless; and that is why God has not stipu¬ 
lated a definite amount for us to give and forced 
us by statutory commands to obey. 

So the amount we give must be determined by 
our faith. Let us consider the amount we give as a 
measure of our faith in God's promises—that is, the 
per cent of what we have. Of course the amount in 


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131 


dollars and cents cannot be taken as a measure, 
for some would give millions if they had them. 
But those who do not give of what they have 
would not give if they had billions; and if they 
did, it would not be acceptable; for they would 
give then not through faith in God, but because 
they had no dread of poverty, no fear of ever 
coming to want; they would most likely give in 
order to be praised by men. 

The congregations are not awake to their pos¬ 
sibilities. We do not know our strength, because 
we have never put it to the test. We could take 
the world if we would. Israel could have taken 
Canaan at first; but ten of their spies told them 
they could not, and because the people believed 
them and disbelieved God they died in the wilder¬ 
ness. Let us figure a little on the possibilities of 
a church. We will suppose that there are one 
hundred and fifty members in the congregation, 
with an average income of three hundred dollars 
per annum each. That is, of course, a very small 
amount, being twenty-five dollars per month to 
the individual; but there are always some mem¬ 
bers who have no income, while others will make 
from four to ten times this amount, and we want 
to be conservative; hence we will let three hun¬ 
dred dollars be an average. That does not mean 
that much profit above the living, but that much 
income. Now, if we multiply three hundred dol¬ 
lars by one hundred and fifty (the number of 
members), we will have the neat sum of forty-five 
thousand dollars. The Lord’s children in a given 


132 


The Model Church. 


place make that much money in one year. But 
how much of that will they give to God? Let us 
suppose that they give one-tenth. The congrega¬ 
tion would have four thousand and five hundred 
dollars with which to glorify God each year! 
That would support two preachers in the field and 
still leave enough to pay all the expenses of the 
congregation, allowing them a big expense account 
at that! 

This is not visionary or impractical. It is a 
very conservative estimate. A congregation of 
only one hundred and fifty members is a small 
congregation, three hundred dollars is certainly 
a very small income, and one-tenth to the Lord 
is not unreasonable. But if we suppose that only 
one-twentieth is given to God, we would still have 
two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to 
use in his service. How many congregations that 
size do anything like that much in a year? And 
what would be the possibilities of a church of 
three or five hundred members? Just figure it 
out on the same basis and see if we are using our 
strength. Let the reader apply these figures to 
his own congregation and see its possibilities. 
Let him show them to others and try to start a 
movement for better things. We are not weak; 
we are strong. The churches of Tennessee alone 
could support five hundred missionaries, if they 
would, and still do all they are now doing. 

But some one may suggest that we have not 
the missionaries if we had the money. That is 
true at present. But if we would begin to show 


The Model Church. 


133 


more interest, to agitate the question more, to 
allow the great need to weigh upon our hearts 
more, and to pray the Lord of the harvest to send 
more laborers into his harvest, we would soon see 
a great awakening, and men would begin to pre¬ 
pare themselves for the work and to offer them¬ 
selves for the fields. Our present state of leth¬ 
argy would discourage any effort. When war is 
agitated and preparedness is preached, men vol¬ 
unteer as soldiers by the hundreds. Let us de¬ 
clare war on Satan and call for volunteers. They 
will come. Will we equip them? 

Are we just playing at being Christians? Are 
we honest with God? We shall have to account 
to him for our stewardship, and he knows the 
purposes of our hearts and the motives that have 
prompted us in all things. Let us be faithful. 
In nearly all congregations there are a few mem¬ 
bers who do their whole duty in the matter of 
giving, as in other things; but the problem is to 
get all the members to do their duty. Self- 
respecting men who would not think of going 
with an excursion party or on a fishing expedition 
without bearing their part of the expenses will 
worship with a congregation, enjoy the preach¬ 
ing that others provide, and receive all the ben¬ 
efits of the congregation, and never feel that it is 
their duty to help pay expenses. This, however, 
is covered in Paul's plan, which we have already 
submitted. “Let each one of you ” said Paul, “lay 
by him in store upon the first day of the week, as 
he may prosper.” 


134 


The Model Church. 


Let us try conscientiously to follow the Lord’s 
word in this matter. 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. How should the church raise the money that 

is needed to carry on its work? 

2. Should all the funds of the church be collected 

in this way? 

3. Should the church take special collections for 

special purposes? 

4. Would this be necessary if Paul’s plan were 

followed ? 

5. Should the need create the demand for the 

money, or should the money be ready when 
the need comes? 

6. About how much should a church of ordinary 

size give to the Lord in a year ? 

7. Estimate the financial strength of your own 

congregation. Is it doing its duty? 

8. What should be done with the money that is 

put into the treasury? Discuss this thor¬ 
oughly. 

9. Do you believe 2 Cor. 9: 6-8 ? 

10. Then is not giving to God a pretty good in¬ 

vestment? 

11. Read all of 2 Cor. 8, 9, and 10. 

12. What does Paul call giving in these chapters? 

13. Is giving one of the Christian graces? 

14. What other texts could you cite on this sub¬ 

ject? 


The Model Church. 


135 


15. Is it right to support those who preach the 
gospel? Read carefully all of 1 Cor. 9; 
also Gal. 6: 6. 

For the benefit of those who wish to make talks 
on this subject, we append the following outlines. 
If they do not care to use the outlines, they will 
at least find it convenient to have the scriptures 
collated. 


Giving. 

Outline 1. 

1. The fact of receiving blessing in our need involves 
the obligation to impart to others in their need. (Matt. 
10 : 8 .) 

2. All that we have we have received. (1 Chron. 29: 
11, 12.) We are but stewards, holding in trust, for cer¬ 
tain ends, the treasures bestowed upon us. (1 Pet. 4: 10; 
1 Cor. 4: 7; 1 Chron. 29: 14-17.) 

3. It is a divine command to give. (Matt. 5: 42; Luke 
6: 38; 11: 41; 12: 33.) 

4. We are to work in order that we may have to give. 
(Eph. 4: 28; Acts 20: 34, 35.) 

5. We are to give— 

(1) According to our means. (2 Cor. 8: 12; Acts 

11: 29.) 

(2) First providing for honest things. (2 Cor. 7: 

21 .) 

(3) Cheerfully. (2 Cor. 9: 27.) 

(4) Bountifully. (2 Cor. 9: 5-7.) 

(5) Steadily. (1 Cor. 16: 1-3.) 

(6) Unitedly. (2 Cor. 8: 13, 14; Acts 11: 29.) 

(7) Not only for the poor, but for sending out the 

gospel, maintaining teachers in the church, 
and promoting every good work. (1 Cor. 
9: 7-14; Phil. 4: 15-17; 3 John 5-8; 1 Tim. 
5: 17, 18; Gal. 6: 6-10.) 

6. Motives to this duty: 

(1) Giving, it shall be given unto us. (Luke 6: 

38.) 

(2) The Lord will deliver us in the day of trouble. 

(Ps. 41: 1-3.) 

(3) It makes us Godlike. (Luke 6: 35.) 


186 


The Model Church. 


(4) It enlarges the heart and purges it of petty 

scruples and burdensome follies. (Luke 11: 
41.) 

(5) It gives acceptance to our prayers. (Acts 10: 

2, 4.) 

(6) It is a means of laying up treasure in heaven. 

(1 Tim. 6: 8, 19; Matt. 25: 34, 36.) 

(7) We shall reap as we have sown. (2 Cor. 9: 

6; Gal. 6: 6-10.) 

Giving. 

Outline 2. 

A Duty and a Privilege. —A mark of true religion. (Ps. 
112: 9; Isa. 32: 8; Eph. 4: 28; 1 Tim. 6: 17-19; 
1 John 3: 17, 18.) 

Source. —The grace of God. (2 Cor. 8: 1-25.) An echo 
of God's great love in Christ. 

Sphere. —Unlimited. To all so far as we have the power. 
(Luke 6: 30; Gal. 6: 10.) To “them who are of 
the household of faith.” (Rom. 12: 13.) To the 
poor. (Matt. 5: 42; Deut. 15: 11; Isa. 58: 7.) 
To strangers. (Lev. 25: 35.) To enemies. (Prov. 
25: 21.) To services of God at home and abroad. 

Giving. 

Outline 3. 

Manner. —True liberality should be: 

(1) Voluntary. The freewill offering of a loving 

heart and an open hand. (Ex. 35: 21; 
Matt. 10: 8; 2 Cor. 8: 3-12.) “Not grudg¬ 
ingly, or of necessity.” (2 Cor. 9: 7.) 

(2) Bountiful. Not sparingly. (Prov. 29: 9; 2 

Cor. 8: 3; 9: 7; Mark 12: 43, 44; Acts 2: 
45; 4: 36, 37.) 

(3) Unostentatious. (Matt. 6:3; Rom. 12: 8.) 

(4) Prompt. (Prov. 24: 11, 12.) 

Measure .— 

(1) According to ability. (Deut. 16 : 10-17; Matt. 

10: 8; 1 Cor. 16: 2.) 

(2) According to a fixed and settled principle. (1 

Cor. 16: 2.) Not governed by caprice or 
emotion, much less to please a friend or 
make a display. 


The Model Church. 


137 


Model .—The blessed Lord. (2 Cor. 8: 9.) When Paul 
wishes to teach liberality, he refers to the 
Lord, who “gave himself.” 

Value and Importance .—There are special blessings an¬ 
nexed to Christian liberality: 

(1) It is peculiarly pleasing to God. (2 Cor. 9: 

17; Heb. 13: 16.) 

(2) It is a means of glorifying him, both in giver 

and receiver. (2 Cor. 9: 12, 13.) 

(3) Connected with rich promises. (Prov. 11: 

25; 19: 17; 22: 9; 28: 27; Eccles. 11: 1, 2; 
Isa. 58: 6-11.) 

(4) The benedictions of Jesus upon it. (Acts 20: 

35.) 


CHAPTER X. 


Church Music. 

The music of the New Testament churches was 
very simple. The elaborate programs, the offer¬ 
tories, the operettas, the aesthetic art perform¬ 
ances of modern churches are of comparative re¬ 
cent origin, and they came into the different de¬ 
nominations by degrees and, in most instances, 
over opposition. Of course the early disciples 
knew nothing of such things, and there is no au¬ 
thority for them in the New Testament if author¬ 
ity were sought. 

In this chapter it is assumed that no one will 
deny that churches of the apostolic period used 
only vocal music; and as this is written for those 
who wish to follow apostolic example in work 
and worship, the question of the kind of music is 
not discussed. Probably ‘The Purpose and 
Power of Song in Our Services” would be a 
proper heading for this chapter. 

We have contended strongly against the song 
service being made void or being made unscrip- 
tural by the introduction of instruments, and 
against choirs—hired choirs and others—usurp¬ 
ing the privilege of the congregation by doing the 
singing and causing the audience—those who 
should be worshiping and praising God—to sit in 


The Model Church. 


139 


silence and be entertained; but it seems that we 
have not yet been able sufficiently to impress the 
majority of Christians with the importance of 
this part of the worship to get them to take any 
serious or sincere part in it. If singing is no part 
of the worship, our controversy against innova¬ 
tions is not only useless, but sinful; or if the sing¬ 
ing is a nonessential part of the worship, it makes 
little difference who sings, what is sung, or 
whether with or without accompaniment. But if 
it is an essential part of the worship—and it most 
certainly is—how wrong it is for us to be indif¬ 
ferent about it or to use it as a mere convenience 
for people to enter the house and be seated by or 
call the house to order! And how sinful it is for 
worshipers (?) to read letters or carry on a con¬ 
versation while this very sweet and solemn serv¬ 
ice is in progress! Yet every reader of this chap¬ 
ter has seen such things done. Why should one 
who has no more interest in or respect for such 
service object to any sort of innovation? And 
how can a congregation that does not teach 
against, warn against, and educate its members 
above such a perversion and prostitution of the 
song worship consistently object to innovations? 
It cannot do it. If we would have our service 
scriptural, we must enter into it with purpose and 
meaning, with concentrated thought and worship¬ 
ful heart. To use God’s name in song and not 
make the sentiment of the song our sentiment is 
to use God’s name without meaning; hence, to 
take it in vain . To utter a prayer in song like, 


140 


The Model Church. 


“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;” or, 
“My faith looks up to thee;” or, “In the hour of 
trial, Jesus, plead for me,” and not mean it—not 
utter it from our heart—is to sin grievously. It 
is mockery. 0, how we need to be careful! And 
how we need teaching on this subject so that we 
will have such a condition in our worshiping as¬ 
semblies as will aid us in getting our minds in 
proper frame, as will inspire reverence and awe! 

All worshipers, whether Christian or heathen, 
in so far as they have music at all, make vocal 
music in their devotions. They may have instru¬ 
mental music also, but they do not discard vocal 
music. On the question of kinds of music , we 
may set down vocal music as universally recog¬ 
nized and accepted; and we know, too, that it has 
the sanction of Holy Writ. But we must not for¬ 
get that there are different kinds of vocal music. 
Singing should be classified not only according to 
the words uttered, but also according to the feel¬ 
ings that actuate the singer and the emotions 
they arouse in the hearers. There are spiritual 
songs and there are sensual songs, and then there 
is what might be termed a “middle class” of 
songs. These are songs that are not at all spirit¬ 
ual, but neither are they grossly sensual. They 
are light, meaningless jingles that make one want 
to “trip on light fantastic toe” or frisk about in 
harmony with the movement of the music. Such 
is the power of music that some melodies make 
you want to weep or pray, even if you do not 
know or understand a word of the song. Others 


The Model Church. 


141 


sound a note of joyful praise, and you feel like 
shouting, “Bless Jehovah, all ye hosts!” and 
“How excellent is thy name, 0 Lord, in all the 
earth!” And then there are tones of deep dig¬ 
nity, of solemn calm and reverential silence; and 
when you hear them, you feel like bowing your 
head and saying: “God is in his holy habitation; 
let all the earth keep silence before him.” 

God has not blessed man with any richer gift 
than the appreciation of music and the power to 
sing. No means of grace that is available to 
Christians is more potent than sweet songs. 
Nothing stirs the soul more deeply and nothing 
brings us nearer to God than the heart-searching 
sentiments of sacred songs and the sweet, soul¬ 
ful singing of a band of humble, yet joyful, wor¬ 
shipers whose very souls are ascending in unison 
to God on the vibrant strains of holy song. 

Song worship should be the spontaneous out¬ 
bursts of the feelings of adoration that fill the 
soul—the overflowings of a heart surcharged 
with devotion, reverence, and veneration. Hence 
the apostle Paul said, “Be filled with the Spirit;” 
and, as a result of that, sing and make “melody 
in your heart to the Lord.” In harmony with the 
same thought James said: “Is any afflicted among 
you? let him pray. Is any cheerful? let him sing 
praise.” Christians should sing because they feel 
like singing, because it is the most satisfactory 
way of expressing the emotions or of giving ut¬ 
terance to the feelings that surge in the soul. 
When one is afflicted, one does not feel like sing- 


142 


The Model Church. 


ing. Prayer is more agreeable to the feelings 
then. When one is cheerful, singing is the nat¬ 
ural outlet to the energies of the heart. In the 
cold, bleak days of winter, when the sky is over¬ 
cast and a sullen gray shroud hangs over the 
earth, the song birds are never heard in the for¬ 
est. They hide away under some friendly shel¬ 
ter and sit ruffled and shivering through the day. 
There is no music in their feelings, and hence 
none is heard from their throats. But when the 
warm spring comes, these little songsters make 
the woods vocal with their joy. Their feelings 
and their nature bid them sing, and they must 
sing. 

So should we worship God in song. There is a 
great difference between the man who has some¬ 
thing to say and the man who has to say some¬ 
thing; also there is wide difference between the 
man who sings because his feelings prompt him 
to sing and the man who sings because he is paid 
to sing or because he wants people to hear his 
voice. But where the heart is not in a worship¬ 
ful or a songful attitude when we enter the as¬ 
sembly of the saints, it should soon be made so 
by a concentration upon the sentiments of the 
hymn and by a hearty and enthusiastic par¬ 
ticipation in the singing. That is the purpose, or 
at least one purpose, of the singing—to make mel¬ 
ody with the heart or to make the heart full of 
melody and joyous emotions. Thus the minds of 
the entire congregation are unified. As Chris¬ 
tians assemble, they come from many different 


The Model Church. 


143 


homes, with many different thoughts and feelings 
in their bosoms. Personal affairs, domestic cares, 
and business interests occupy the thoughts of 
some, while others have just laid down the Sun¬ 
day newspaper and their minds are still upon 
the affairs of the world. But there is one purpose 
that has brought them all together—viz., to wor¬ 
ship God. And when the worship begins, every 
one should be in his place ready to join in the 
first note of the first song. Then, all singing to¬ 
gether, their minds quickly run together, and 
their united praise ascends to God as from one 
man. The thoughts of other things are crowded 
out, and feelings of adoration and worship fill the 
soul, and the man is enabled to worship God in 
spirit and in truth, which is the only sort of wor¬ 
ship he will accept. The heart is then made mel¬ 
low and full of melody, and the worshiper is pre¬ 
pared for all the other acts of worship. 

But the unfortunate attitude that most church 
members of to-day hold toward the singing makes 
such sweet and soulful singing impossible. They 
do not regard it as a part of the worship, and they 
do not feel called upon to be present for the sing¬ 
ing; or if they are present, they do not sing, and 
some do not think it necessary to be specially at¬ 
tentive while the others are singing. In most 
places the song worship cannot be what it should 
be, because the worshipers (?) are constantly 
coming in, hunting seats, and saluting their neigh¬ 
bors while the saints are hymning the praises of 
their Maker and are endeavoring to “make mel- 


144 


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ody with their hearts to the Lord.” While some 
are thus making melody with their hearts, others 
are making a din with their feet, a disturbance 
with their bodies, and a discord with their 
tongues. Yet those who thus ignore that part of 
the solemn worship for themselves and ruin it 
for the others would be the first to object and the 
last to yield the objection if some one should wish 
to bring in musical instruments to use with the 
singing. This is so inconsistent, and even so ab¬ 
surd, that we cannot well censure those favoring 
the instrument for disrespecting their objection. 
If you are never present during the song worship, 
what right have you to say how it should be con¬ 
ducted or what should be used in connection with 
it; or what consistency is there in your objection 
to instrumental accompaniment when you accom¬ 
pany the singing with boisterous talking as you 
approach the door and by a noisy promenade 
down the aisle? This is a thing too frequently 
done; and—O!—if we could make every one see 
just how ugly it is! Such conduct is boorish if 
not blasphemous. Such a thing should never be 
thought of among polite, refined people, to say 
nothing of those who should be worshipers and 
should at that very instant be engaged in the 
worship, or, if for any reason they are not in it, 
they should by all means feel a keen sense of their 
loss and get into it with all speed. 

In the hope of making Christians see the need 
of making the song worship what it should be, let 
us ask a few vital questions, and we trust every 


The Model Church. 


145 


reader will seriously consider them and answer 
them to his own conscience: Is there any mean¬ 
ing in the singing? If not, why not do away with 
it altogether? Is it any part of the worship? If 
it is, should not every Christian try conscien¬ 
tiously to have part in it? Is singing an act of 
faith? If not, is it not sinful to practice it? 
(Rom. 14: 23.) If it is an act performed in faith 
toward God, how dare any Christian to neglect it 
or disregard it? If we should delay the Lord’s 
Supper, the sermon, or any other part of the wor¬ 
ship while “tarrying one for another,” should we 
not delay the song worship also? If not, why 
not? If we should carry the emblems to those 
who enter the assembly after they were passed 
to the audience, why should we not repeat the 
song or songs that were sung before they entered 
also? Was there anything in the songs for wor¬ 
shipers? If not, why were they sung? If there 
was, did not those who came late miss something ? 

While the thought of tardy worshipers is be¬ 
fore us, let us consider another serious question: 
When is the most appropriate time to enter a 
worshiping assembly? It seems to be universally 
understood that it would be inappropriate to en¬ 
ter during prayer. That would show a lack of 
reverence; and, on account of our custom, it 
would show a lack of culture and training, though 
it may be seriously doubted whether that would 
show any more lack of reverence than to enter 
while the Scriptures are being read. Which is 
the more important—what we say to God or what 
10 


146 


The Model Church. 


God says to us? No person with any depths of 
feeling or any degree of reverence would want 
to enter while the Lord’s Supper is being cel¬ 
ebrated. Then, to repeat the question, when is a 
good time to enter? While the singing is in prog¬ 
ress ! Ah, yes, that’s the time! Come on in, and 
take your time about finding a seat. Go up and 
down the aisles till you find the place you want, 
and then crowd in past four or five persons and 
sit down. Then get up again and take off your 
wraps, and turn around and throw them across 
the back of the seat and sit down. Now adjust 
those things on the back of the seat again. Look 
about over the audience to see who is there. Now 
emit a loud sigh to indicate that you are about to 
get settled. Now turn to the one sitting next to 
you and ask him how many songs “they” (ignore 
the fact that he is one of the singers) have sung. 
Tell him all about what made you late. 0, you 
had such a time! Tell him all about it. He is 
just singing “Nearer, my God, to thee,” or “My 
faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary,” 
or “If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now;” and, 
of course, he would be glad to hear all you have to 
say. 

If you do not think that would be proper, then 
answer the question: When is an appropriate 
time to enter an assembly of worshipers? There 
can be but one correct answer: Before the wor¬ 
ship begins. Of course it is permissible to enter 
later, but it is not—never is— proper. It is some¬ 
thing to be overlooked and excused by those whose 


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worship you disturb, and hence something to be 
regretted by you. When a person who is late to 
worship tells of some mishap or of some extraor¬ 
dinary occurrence that has caused his tardiness, 
and says he thinks he ought to be excused, there 
is, of course, an admission that the tardiness was 
improper, else why think of being excused ? 
What is there to be excused for? There are times 
when tardiness is unavoidable, but there is never 
a time when it is not to be regretted by those 
guilty. 

If we could get this lesson taught and learned, 
we would have removed one great handicap to 
our worship. 

We need reverence. There is no surer indica¬ 
tion of a well-bred character than reverence— 
reverence for everything sacred. A lack of rev¬ 
erence not only shows a lack of culture, but it 
also shows an absence of the finer feelings that 
go into the delicate construction of a gentle and 
refined soul. It proclaims one of coarse breed, 
of common stock, and lacking in the essential 
qualities of the finest character. 

Boisterousness is a well-recognized characteris¬ 
tic of coarseness. It is a negro characteristic. 
Surely there is no need to speak against such a 
thing among Christians. 

There are two passages of scripture that should 
be printed on placards and placed in every school- 
house and church house in the country, and the 
preachers and teachers should frequently call at¬ 
tention to them, illustrate their lessons, and point 


148 


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their morals. They are the following: “Where¬ 
fore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, 
let us have grace, whereby we may offer service 
well pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for 
our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12: 28.) 
“But we exhort you, brethren, . . . that ye 

study to be quiet, and to do your own business/' 
(1 Thess. 4: 10, 11.) 

The lessons just given may appear to be for¬ 
eign to the subject of this chapter, and in theory 
they are, but in fact they are not. Boisterous¬ 
ness, tardiness, and irreverence have done a great 
deal toward ruining the song worship of many 
congregations. Now let us suppose that we have 
a band of brethren who have all heeded these les¬ 
sons and the first day of the week—the day for 
worship—has dawned. Eleven o'clock in the fore¬ 
noon is the hour for worship to begin. When 
that time arrives, the Christians are all in the 
house, in their seats, and are quiet, reading a 
hymn or the Bible, meditating, not talking and 
laughing— quiet. (1 Thess. 4: 10.) Then the 
song leader arises and announces a hymn. The 
congregation, being already in a meditative, wor¬ 
shipful frame of mind, takes up the tune as the 
leader starts and sings with the spirit (the spirit 
of each singer is in the worship; hence he wor¬ 
ships in the spirit) and with the understanding— 
he understands what the hymn says, understands 
the words he utters, and speaks them fervently 
to the glory and praise of God and to the edifica¬ 
tion of his fellow worshipers. 


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149 


What else is there now to learn about accepta¬ 
ble song worship, and what more is to be desired 
in the way of church music? 

But we may sum up all the New Testament 
says about church music in a few words, and we 
believe then each reader will see that the above 
meets all the requirements. Let us first read the 
passages: 

“And be not drunken with wine, wherein is 
riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to 
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing and making melody with your heart to 
the Lord.” (Eph. 5: 18, 19.) 

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in 
all wisdom teaching and admonishing one an¬ 
other with psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto 
God.” (Col. 3: 16, 17.) 

“I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing 
with the understanding also.” (1 Cor. 14: 15.) 

“Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of 
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips 
which make confession to his name.” (Heb. 13: 
15.) 

We may say now that— 

1. It is the privilege, if not the duty, of each 
worshiper to sing. 

2. That the songs must be spiritual songs. 

3. That the singing must be such as will teach, 
edify, admonish all the worshipers. 


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The Model Church. 


4. That singing must be done with the spirit, 
with grace in the heart, and must make melody in 
the heart to the Lord. 

It is no violation of anything in the New Tes¬ 
tament—rather, it is sanctioned by it—for one 
man to sing to the audience if he can thereby ed¬ 
ify and admonish the audience. Nor is it wrong 
for two persons, four persons, or six persons to¬ 
gether to stand before the assembly and admonish 
them with a song or speak to them through a 
hymn—provided always, of course, that the sing¬ 
ers are themselves worshipers and that they are 
singing for the scriptural purpose, and provided, 
also, that they do not do all the singing and 
thereby take away the right and privilege that 
belongs to every Christian—to praise God in song. 

But some one suggests that some persons can¬ 
not sing. . In reply, we say that they ought to 
learn to sing. Some people cannot read the Bi¬ 
ble, but we insist that they ought to learn to read. 
It is further objected that some can never learn 
to sing. We cannot say whether that is true or 
not; but in a case of that kind we would suggest 
that the person get the hymn book, follow the 
words as the others sing, and try to make melody 
with his heart to the Lord. At least there is no 
excuse for his being inattentive. 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. What sort of music did the New Testament 
churches have? 


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151 


2. Can you quote all the New Testament says on 

the question of music? 

3. When were instruments of music first used 

by professed Christians in connection with 
their worship? Answer: Not before the 
sixth or seventh century. (See encyclope¬ 
dia.) 

4. What is the purpose of singing? 

5. What kind of songs should be sung? 

6. Who should do the singing? 

7. What feelings should fill the heart of the sing¬ 

ers? 

8. If the song should fail to arouse or inspire 

such feelings, is the singing scriptural? 
Will God accept the worship? 

9. What should persons who cannot sing do dur¬ 

ing the song worship ? 

10. What is one great hindrance to song worship 

in our churches? 

11. Quote Heb. 12: 28; 1 Thess. 4: 10, 11. 

12. When is the best time to enter a worshiping 

assembly? 

13. Is not habitual tardiness a sin? 

14. Is it in harmony with the divine command to 

do all things “decently and in order?” (1 
Cor. 14: 40.) 

15. Each elder of the church is to be “orderly;” 

and should they not see that the services 
are orderly, therefore ? Why else does God 
require elders to be orderly? 


152 


The Model Church. 


16. Give a description of an ideal condition at the 

hour of worship and during the hour of 
worship. 

17. Does your congregation fit the description? 

Would it if every member were like you? 

18. If your home church does not come up to the 

ideal, who is at fault? If you are, correct 
your fault; if others are, help them to do 
better. Hold up the ideal. 


CHAPTER XI. 


A Model Church. 


In considering a model church, we must, of 
course, have some standard by which to measure 
a church—some ideal to which we can appeal. 
In the minds of some modern religious teachers 
no church would be a model church till it added 
to its services all the paraphernalia of the the¬ 
ater and some of the adjuncts of the barroom. 
Connected with the house of worship there must 
be a gymnasium and a culinary department, and 
possibly a pool room and a swimming pool. But 
with such things we have nothing to do. We 
have a standard, a criterion, and to it we appeal. 
It is the Lord we wish to please, and not man. 
The fads and fancies of men change with the sea¬ 
sons, and what is popular in this generation will 
be entirely out of date in the next generation. A 
true Christian cares nothing for popularity. To 
have the favor of men of the world in matters 
religious is a certain sign that we do not have the 
favor of Christ. (Gal. 1: 7-10.) But in striv¬ 
ing to please Christ we must know his wish or 
will in everything, and we find that in the Bible— 
the New Testament. He is the Founder of the 
church (Matt. 16: 18, 19), the Head of the church 
(Eph. 1: 23; Col. 1: 18). He is the Mediator of 




154 


The Model Church. 


the new covenant—new laws, new will, or testa¬ 
ment. (Heb. 9: 15, 16; 12: 24.) After his death 
and resurrection and coronation as “Lord and 
Christ,” he sent the Holy Spirit to completely re¬ 
veal his will and to declare all his plans, to ex¬ 
ecute his laws, and to set his church in operation. 
(See John 14: 26; 16: 13, 14; Luke 24: 46-49; 
Acts 1:8.) 

Shall we assume, then, that the Founder built 
such a church as would please him, that the Law¬ 
giver inaugurated such a government as he de¬ 
sired, and that the Head directed such work and 
worship as he approved, as would honor him? 
Can weak, mortal, frail, fallible, feeble man know 
what would please the Lord better than the Lord 
knew himself? Who honors the Lord most—the 
man who humbly submits to what the Lord says, 
even though he (the man) does not see the need of 
the thing done, or the man who ignores the Lord's 
directions, disrespects his authority and com¬ 
mands, and does according to his (the man’s) 
ideas and according to popular sentiment? To 
ask such a question is to answer it. 

Let us say, therefore, that a model church, or 
congregation (for we are discussing the local 
church chiefly), is one that measures up to the 
New Testament pattern in organization, in work, 
and in worship. Considering these items in or¬ 
der, we shall discuss— 

1. Organization .—From the preceding chapters 
we have learned that there is no organization in 
the church of God except a local church or con- 


The Model Church. 


155 


gregation; that there is no officer in the church 
that has jurisdiction or authority over a diocese, 
with its subordinate officers; that there can be 
no corporation of congregations, but that each 
congregation is strictly autonomous—an inde¬ 
pendent body. Each congregation is a complete 
mechanism, considered under another figure, and 
is fully equipped to do all the work the Lord has 
ordained. A model church will have a plurality 
of scriptural bishops—not fewer than four and 
preferably six or eight. The number will depend 
somewhat upon the size of the congregation, but 
more especially upon the number of men in it who 
are qualified for the office. All these bishops will 
be scripturally qualified, each one possessing all 
the qualifications, and scripturally appointed. 
They will be found prayerfully performing their 
functions. They will have a complete register of 
their members and will know the spiritual condi¬ 
tion of them all. These elders will hold regular 
business sessions or conferences at least once a 
month, and oftener if the work demands it. 
There will be perfect understanding among them 
as to what the church is doing and what it plans 
to do. They will call the whole church together 
every sixty or ninety days and report to them 
what has been done, what is being done, and what 
plans for work are made. This will inspire con¬ 
fidence, stimulate a feeling of fellowship and part¬ 
nership in the work, and stir up much interest. 
The elders will, in such meetings, invite sugges¬ 
tions from the members, welcome criticism, and 


156 


The Model Church. 


allow full and free discussion on all questions per¬ 
taining to the welfare of the church. Thus there 
will be always perfect understanding and good 
feeling in the congregation. 

To assist the elders, the model church will have 
a board of deacons. The number will be deter¬ 
mined by the size of the congregation. These, 
like the elders, must possess the Pauline qualifica¬ 
tions and must be scripturally appointed for their 
work. They will be busily engaged in looking 
after the temporal affairs of the church. They 
will know of the needy poor in the congregation 
and will relieve their needs. This will be a great 
work; and when diligently performed, it will 
“purchase to the deacons a good degree.” 

In the model church the members will all be in 
subjection to the overseers, or elders. They will 
trust their judgment and abide by their decision 
in all matters of order and discipline, with the 
understanding, of course, that every Christian 
reads the word of God for himself and that any 
violation of Scripture by an elder may be pointed 
out by the humblest member. This should be 
done privately and in the spirit of meekness and 
fear. The elders will welcome such correction. 
The members will have a voice in all the affairs 
of the church when no principle of right or wrong 
is involved. With such conditions prevailing, the 
congregation will, without question, be scriptur¬ 
ally organized. 

2. Work .—The model church will be a working 
church. Every member will be a worker. Each 


The Model Church. 


157 


one will be so busy doing his part of the work 
that he will not have time to find fault with the 
others. No member will be heard to speak of the 
church as “they” and of its work as what “they” 
do or do not do. Each member is a unit of 
strength, an integral part of the whole, and feels 
his responsibility for the success or failure of the 
congregation. Each one does what he is directed 
to do, and finds work and does it on his own in¬ 
itiative. No one wants to be petted and humored, 
but each desires to minister instead of being min¬ 
istered to. Even those who have to have the help 
of the church will accept it reluctantly and grate¬ 
fully, and not as that which the church owes them 
and which they expected and idly waited for. 
Such help, in a model church, will never be given 
grudgingly or in a spirit of condescension, as 
“charity” 

In the model church there will be definite plans 
for work—a certain task undertaken which will 
call out the whole strength of the body, which will 
utilize all the forces of the congregation. There 
will be a program for each year, involving an 
outlay of money—so much for an evangelistic 
campaign at home; so much for missionary ef¬ 
forts in near-by fields; so much for foreign mis¬ 
sions ; enough to do good to all men as the oppor¬ 
tunities come; so much for Bible study—equip¬ 
ping the classrooms and supplying books, charts, 
maps, etc.; so much for books and song drills. 
These things will all be so provided and so man¬ 
aged as to engage the attention of the young and 


158 


The Model Church. 


keep them away from worldliness and sin. Their 
hearts cannot get full of evil if they are kept full 
of good. In a model church the children will not 
graduate from the Bible school when they reach 
the “upper teensbut little and large, young and 
old alike will attend the classes, prepare their 
lessons, and manifest real interest in God’s word 
and in the condition of his cause among men. 

There will be no faultfinding members in the 
model church, but each member will esteem oth¬ 
ers better than himself; they will in honor pre¬ 
fer one another; they will all be members one of 
another; they will bear one another’s burdens; 
they will weep with those who weep and rejoice 
with those who rejoice. There will be no schism 
in the body, but love will be without hypocrisy 
among them. Thus working together, they will 
also be coworkers with God, and such a church 
will not be barren of good fruits—nay, it will be 
a city set on a hill, and no power can hide it from 
the world’s view. 

3. Worship .—A model church is necessarily a 
converted church. Its members have “put off the 
old man.” They are in Christ, and are, therefore, 
new creatures. Their affections are on spiritual 
things—things above—and not on fleshly, worldly, 
sensual things; and, of course, therefore, they 
enjoy spiritual food, spiritual songs, spiritual 
surroundings, more than Sunday dinners, Sun¬ 
day newspapers, Sunday baseball, or Sunday pic¬ 
ture shows; for all such things are connected with 


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159 


sensual practices even if they are not sensual 
per se . 

Worship is a natural expression of a conse¬ 
crated soul. He who does not enjoy things spirit¬ 
ual is carnal-minded; hence, is in a state of 
death, is not a Christian, and cannot be saved 
unless he repents and is converted. 

When the members of a model church assem¬ 
ble, they come into the worship with reverence. 
They come with one purpose, with one mind— 
their minds are all together on one thought. They 
come with devout hearts. They are all there when 
the worship begins, and they all always take part. 
They all worship. They all participate in the 
singing. Those who cannot sing follow the words 
of the hymn (for, of course, a model church will 
have hymn books enough for every person pres¬ 
ent), and listen to the melody, and try to worship 
with grace in their hearts. All the members 
engage in the prayers and say “Amen” at the 
close, either audibly or in the heart. The wor¬ 
ship is always orderly, systematic, and solemn. 
There is no confusion, no distractions, and no 
unseemly commotions; for there are no idle minds 
present. Every one is worshiping; every one is 
full of God. God is in the midst, and all are 
filled with awe. There is an atmosphere of calm, 
of quiet, of peace and reverence; for we are now 
living in the age “when the true worshipers shall 
worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such 
doth the Father seek to be his worshipers. God 


160 


The Model Church. 


is a Spirit: and they that worship him must wor¬ 
ship in spirit and truth.” (John 4: 23, 24.) 

Questions for Discussion. 

1. In what way are we to decide whether a 

church is a model church ? 

2. By what are we to measure the church? 

3. How many kinds of church organizations are 

mentioned or authorized in the Bible? 

4. When is a congregation organized according 

to New Testament teaching? 

5. What is some of the work a model church 

must do? 

6. Who should do this work ? 

7. Who is responsible for the success or failure 

of a congregation? 

8. Will you have to answer to God for the con¬ 

dition of your congregation? 

9. What is worship? 

10. Can we call acts performed in the name of 

God worship if the heart is not in them ? 

11. Can we sing and pray and still not worship? 

12. In a model congregation, how many of the 

members worship? 

13. What part or parts of the worship do they all 

participate in? 

14. How many of them should be there when the 

worship begins? 

15. Is habitual tardiness a sin? 

16. Then should not the one guilty be admon¬ 

ished? 

17. Give a description of a model church. 


The Model Church. 


161 


18. In the last paragraph under the division 

“Work” of this chapter there are ten allu¬ 
sions to scripture, or ten scriptural ex¬ 
pressions without quotation marks and 
without the references. Can you find the 
expressions? Can you find the passages 
alluded to? 

19. In the first three sentences of the first par¬ 

agraph under “ Worship” there are three 
scripture expressions. Can you find the 
passages from which these expressions are 
taken ? 

20. Did you read all the references given in this 

chapter? 


ll 


CHAPTER XII. 


Prayer-Meeting Topics. 


Some Reasons Why Church Members Should Always 
Attend the Prayer Meetings. 

1. All reasons why one should attend the preach¬ 

ing of the word apply here. 

2. The example of the apostles: Acts 1: 13, 14; 

Acts 2: 1. 

3. The example of the early Christians: Acts 2: 

42; Acts 12: 5. 

4. Shall the practice of the Jews shame Chris¬ 

tians? See Acts 16: 13; Ps. 116: 18, 19; 
Joel 2: 15-18. 

5. United prayer was a duty: Joel 1: 14; Luke 

1:10; also Ps. 34: 3. 

6. There are special promises to united prayer: 

Matt. 18: 19, 20. 

7. We are social beings; an isolated Christian life 

is not adapted to our requirements: See Ps. 
142: 4; Mai. 3: 16; Heb. 3: 12-14; Heb. 
10: 25. 

8. We must strive to enter heaven, and we can¬ 

not, therefore, neglect such a potent means 
of grace: Luke 13: 24. 

9. One stick will not burn alone; put the scattered 

fuel together if you want a blaze; the more 
the fuel, the hotter the fire: Prov. 27: 17. 




The Model Church. 


163 


To aid the elders in getting the young men to 
take part in the prayer meeting, the following 
topics are submitted. Let one of the older men 
take the lead each week, and let him assign the 
different divisions to young men. If they do no 
more than read the references at first, it will be a 
start; but they should be encouraged to comment 
also. 

Prayer. 

Prayer Enjoined— Luke 18: 1-4; Matt. 6: 5-15; 

7: 7-12; John 16: 23, 24; Matt. 18: 19, 20. 
Prayer Encouraged —Deut. 4: 29-31; 2 Chron. 7: 
13, 14; Ps. 50: 15; Isa. 65: 24; Luke 11: 9- 
13; 1 John 5: 14, 15; Heb. 4: 16; 1 John 3: 
20-22. 

Prayer Requested —Rom. 15: 30-32; Eph. 6: 18- 
20; Col. 4:2-4; Heb. 13: 18-21; 2 Thess. 3: 
1, 2; 2 Cor. 1: 11; 1 Thess. 5: 25. 

Prayer Offered —Acts 20: 32; Phil. 1: 2-11; Col. 
1: 9-14; 1 Thess. 3: 9-13; 2 Thess. 1: 11, 12. 

Prayer-Meeting Topic. 

Subject: “How to Become a Christian, and 
Why Wear That Name.” 

Hear —John 17: 20, 21; Rom. 10: 17; John 6: 
44-46; Acts 15: 7. 

Believe —Mark 16: 16; John 1: 12; 3: 14-18, 36; 
5: 24; 6: 29; 8: 21-24; Gal. 3: 26; Heb. 11: 
6, 7. 

Repent —Matt. 9: 13; Mark 6: 12; Luke 13: 1-7; 
24: 47; Acts 2: 38; 3: 19; 17: 30; 20: 21; 
26: 20. 


164 


The Model Church. 


Confess —Matt. 10: 32; Acts 8: 37; Rom. 10: 9, 
10; Phil. 2: 9-11; 1 John 4: 15. 

Be Baptized —Matt. 28: 19, 20; Mark 16: 15, 16; 
John 3: 5; Luke 7: 30; Acts 2: 38; 8: 36-38; 
10: 46-48; 22: 16; Rom. 6: 3-6; Gal. 3: 27; 
Eph. 5: 26; Col. 2: 12; 1 Pet. 3: 18-21. 

THE NAME. 

Value of a Name —Lev. 18: 21; 2 Sam. 7: 23; 

Prov. 18: 20; 22: 1; Eccles. 7: 1. 

A New Name, God-Given —Isa. 56: 5; 62: 2; Acts 
11: 26; 26: 28. 

The Name of Jesus —Acts 2: 38; 3: 6-8; 4: 12-30; 
5: 28; 15: 26; Eph. 1: 21; Phil. 2: 9, 10; 
Col. 3: 17; 2 Tim. 2: 19; 1 Pet. 4: 14; James 
2: 7. 

Prayer-Meeting Topic. 

Subject: “God's Ownership of Us—We Be¬ 
long to God." 

By Creation —Isa. 43: 7; Col. 1: 16; Rev. 4: 11. 
By Providence —Deut. 8: 3-18; Ps. 36: 6; 115: 

16; 136: 25; 145: 15, 16; Eccles. 5: 19. 

By Redemption —Ps. 107: 2; Isa. 43: 1; Acts 20: 

28; 1 Pet. 1: 18, 19; 1 Cor. 6: 29; Rev. 5: 9. 
For Service —Acts 27: 23; 1 Cor. 7: 23; Eph. 2: 
10; Tit. 2: 14; 2 Tim. 2: 21. 

Prayer-Meeting Topic. 

Subject: “Daniel, or Devotion to Principle— 
Daniel's Character Analyzed." 

Resolute —Dan. 1:8; Heb. 10: 23. 


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165 


Abstinent —Dan. 1: 8; 1 Thess. 5: 22; 1 Pet. 2: 11. 
Prayerful —Dan. 2: 17, 18; Phil. 4: 6. 

Thankful —Dan. 2: 23; 1 Thess. 5: 18. 

Faithful— Dan. 4: 27; Acts 20: 27. 

Loyal —Dan. 6:10; Rev. 2: 10. 

Humble —Dan. 9: 3, 7, 9; 2 Cor. 3: 5. 

Prayer-Meeting Topic. 

Subject: “Christian Union, and How to 
Hasten It.” 

The Sin of Division —Rom. 16: 17; 1 Cor. 1: 10- 
13; 1 Cor. 3: 3; 1 Cor. 11: 17, 18; 1 Cor. 12: 
13, 24, 25; Gal. 5: 19-21; James 3: 14. 

UNITY. 

The Ideal —John 17: 21-26; Rom. 12: 5; 1 Cor. 
10: 16, 17; 1 Cor. 12: 12, 13, 27; Eph. 5: 30- 
32; Ps. 133: 1. 

How to Attain It —Rom. 12: 16; Rom. 14: 19; 
Rom. 15: 5, 6; 1 Cor. 1: 10; 2 Cor. 13: 11; 
Eph. 4: 1-4; Phil. 1: 27; Phil. 2: 2-6; Phil. 
3: 16, 17; 1 Pet. 3: 8. 

Lessons from Naaman. 

Leprosy a Type of Sin —2 Kings 5:1; Lev. 13: 
1-17; Num. 5: 1-3. 

Human Power Helpless to Remedy —2 Kings 5: 
6, 7; Rom. 7: 18-24. 

Human Pride Keeps Men from Pardon —2 Kings 
5: 11, 12; 1 Cor. 1: 18, 21, 23; 1 Cor. 2: 6-8. 


166 


The Model Church. 


God's Way of Pardon is Simple —2 Kings 5: 10; 

Acts 2: 38; Acts 8: 35-39; Rom. 6: 17. 
Cleansing Comes by Obedience —2 Kings 5: 14; 
Rom. 6: 17; 2 Thess. 1: 9, 10; 1 Pet. 1: 22; 
4: 16, 17. 

The Gifts of God Cannot Be Bought —2 Kings 5: 
15, 16; Acts 8: 20; Isa. 55: 1, 2; Eph. 2: 
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